It’s all gone from The Bronx now, the sizzle, the everyday excellence, the at-bats executed with art and science, those must-see moments when you watch a brilliant craftsman in the batter’s box. Juan Soto left the Yankees on Sunday to join the Mets for a reported $765 million over 15 years, pending escalators, opt-outs and perhaps other fine print.
It has to hurt for the Yanks. Heck, anyone who loves baseball should be sad that Soto and Aaron Judge will never be in the same lineup back-to-back again.
But the Yanks have little time to recover. The highest point of the right is now. So too Gerrit Kool‘S. The Yankees were a World Series team last season, but their lineup just lost a generational hitter, putting the club in urgency mode. They must turn and find reinforcements. If Soto was a splurge — they reportedly offered Soto $760 million over 16 years, a hefty offer — they now have to spread at least a large portion of that money around to fill multiple holes.
And they should start by going after it Pete Alonsothe Mets’ free agent. Does this lean too much towards ‘story’? Maybe. But the Yankees need a first baseman and can you imagine the missiles someone with Alonso’s thunder would launch into the music box known as Yankee Stadium? Alonso might as well switch sides. Soto, still only 26, will be the one to break all of the Mets’ offense records over the next fifteen years.
So put Alonso in pinstripes and let him and Judge – and Giancarlo Stanton – take turns hitting huge home runs.
Getting Alonso away from the Mets isn’t without value either, at least in the fan rivalry. Those who love the Mets are trumpeting Soto’s move as the moment their favorite team lost “little brother” status and New York turned back into a Mets town. Remember the mid-1980s when the brash couple from Queens ran baseball here?
Not exactly glory days for the Yankees.
So there’s a lot at stake this Yankee winter. Their World Series drought remains alive and well, eating away at their fan base and those who walk the franchise’s corridors of power. They must determine whether Soto’s departure is an isolated incident or perhaps something deeper. Why did a player who thrived in The Bronx and enjoyed a run to the Fall Classic go elsewhere, especially when the money wasn’t drastically different?
The fact that the Yankees were a known quantity to Soto seemed like an advantage for the Yankees, but apparently it didn’t move the needle much. The appeal of the pinstripes? Apparently not convincing enough to keep Soto at River Avenue and 161st Street.
But they have to move on. There’s a lot more on their to-do list.
They need a second baseman or a third baseman depending on where they decide Jazz Chisholm fits best. They need to rebuild the bullpen, which has been such a big part of their pitching success recently. They have a full rotation, but is it good enough? Maybe they don’t think so, because they’ve reportedly had conversations with both of them Corbin Burnes And Max Friedthe two biggest starters left on the free agent market, and they’ve been linked to the young White Sox lefty Garrett hook on the trade front.
Without Soto, their lineup looks thin. There is other power available on the free-agent market besides Alonso: Anthony Santander hit 44 home runs for the Orioles last year. That is ten more than Alonso and three more than Soto. Christian Walkeranother option for first base, is available, as is Teoscar Hernándezwho played for the Dodger team that smoked the Yanks in the World Series.
Maybe a trade for Cody Bellinger of the Cubs is worth pursuing. Bellinger, whose father, Clay, played for the Yanks at the end of their last dynasty, could man center field — Judge would shift back to right — or even first base.
Even though they are sad about Soto’s departure, there are plenty of ways the Yanks can strengthen this winter. Maybe spreading some of that Soto money around to strengthen multiple spots is their ticket back to the World Series. If they make the right moves.
Alonso could be one of them. At the very least it would make for great theater. What if the Yanks returned to the World Series, helped by someone they acquired from the Mets?
Whose city would it be?
