NEW YORK – In a matter of moments Wednesday night, the New York Yankees went from Juan Soto’s employer to just one of the 30 teams that might pay for his services next year.
Soto, the 26-year-old slugger and baseball’s most coveted free agent this winter, made it abundantly clear that while the Yankees will definitely have a chance to retain his services in bidding that will likely exceed $500 million, his decision will almost certainly be different than that of his power-hitting partner, Aaron Judge.
The Yankees moved relatively quickly to re-sign Judge to a nine-year, $360 million deal after he hit 53 home runs in 2022. But Judge was always a Yankee, homegrown, soon to be the captain.
Soto? He was a World Series champion at age 21, traded by the Washington Nationals by the time he was 23, dealt again to the Yankees before this season. That’s a lifetime of head-spinning moves in just a few years.
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And yes, the marriage was almost perfect: Soto hit a career-high 41 home runs, posted a .989 OPS, gave Judge a run for his money for AL MVP and then dominated the postseason, with a .327 average, four home runs, a 1.102 OPS and a pennant-clinching homer.
Yet it all ended in Game 5 of the World Series, a 7-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers nudging Soto out the door early Thursday morning.
His Yankee teammates badly want him back. Soto?
“I think every team has the same opportunities as I go into free agency,” he said after Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.
But the excitement of New York, the lore that comes with being a Yankee, the incredible partnership with Judge, the love he and his teammates claim they all feel in the home clubhouse – that creates the feeling Soto would prefer New York, right?
“I don’t think so,” Soto said unflinchingly. “I’m really happy with the city, with the team, but at the end of the day we’re going to look at every situation, every offer we get, and take it from there.
“I don’t know what teams will want to come after me, but I’ll be open to this and every single team. I don’t have any doors closed or anything like that. I’m going to be available to all 30 teams.”
OK, so the Tampa Bay Rays or Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t going to make a run at Soto. His market is realistically no more than a half-dozen teams, with clubs like San Francisco and Toronto still ravenous to make a splash in free agency, Philadelphia always a live dog and, as agent Scott Boras will tell the masses next week at the general manager’s meetings, a handful of mystery teams will emerge.
With that in mind, casting the Yankees as one of just 30 might be a little jarring to fans who fell in love with Soto this year and realize how important he is to their future.
Let alone his teammates.
“We were lucky to have him here and it would be great to keep playing with him,” says Judge, who probably enjoyed his best all-around season with Soto batting ahead of him.
“Because he’s a special player. I think everybody in this room wants him back. Besides looking at the stats, it’s the type of leader he is in this clubhouse, a lot of the little things that people don’t notice that make him one of the best if not the best player in the game.
“He’s a scientist up there. Definitely would love to see him in pinstripes for quite a long time.”
For now, Soto plans to sit down with Team Boras and wait. Boras clients are renowned for signing well into the free agency process, and although Soto won’t need to sit out a large chunk of spring training as the so-called Boras Four did this year, he’s willing to let the market come to him.
That’s not great news for the Yankees, who certainly knew there was no preemptive strike to be made. As anticipated, the question for them is, how badly do they want him?
The fans made their voices heard, serenading management with pleas to re-sign Soto at various times this year. Did the chants affect him?
“It will probably impact the decision of ownership,” Soto said with a laugh. “We will see how it goes.”
Judge says Soto should enjoy the free agent process and reap the fruits he earned through six years of service time that set him free. Fellow slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who signed a $325 million extension with Miami before a trade to New York, says he can’t offer Soto any free agent counsel.
Well, maybe one morsel.
“Stay with us, maybe?” he asked.
It doesn’t hurt that the Yankees won 94 games and the AL pennant. Soto likely will go to the highest bidder but also a winning franchise – the two are often correlated – and New York has an advantage in that department over suitors such as the Giants and Blue Jays.
But come next month, they’re all on an even playing field until offers are made, countered, considered.
“It’s always great to have a champagne shower,” he says of the notion of a return to finish the job in New York. We will see what happens in the offseason.
“The Yankees are one of the teams. And we will go from there.”
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