NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Yankees fans have every reason to celebrate Juan Soto’s arrival, as it means better baseball in 2024 and beyond. The slugger is a smorgasbord of power, charisma and more power. Soto is the face of a new era in the Bronx.
But it’s just the beginning.
Not only do the Yankees need Yoshinobu Yamamoto to perform triage on the starting rotation. Hal Steinbrenner has to keep Soto in pinstripes for the next decade and pay him more than Aaron Judge. Good luck with that.
For now, Soto is a one-year rental – and there’s no doubt it’s an historic upgrade to Aaron Boone’s lineup. But the Yankees paid a steep price for a superstar who’ll almost certainly be a free agent 12 months from now.
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Unless the Yankees ride Soto straight to the World Series, sending Michael King and four other players to the Padres would be for nothing. The Bombers could end up whiffing in October for the 15th year in a row.
Steinbrenner, no dummy, realizes he has two distinct challenges ahead. To sign Soto to a long-term deal, he has to convince super-agent Scott Boras it’s in his client’s best interests to stay put.
Steinbrenner has nothing to lose by offering Soto a record-setting contract today. It would spare Soto those first-year New York jitters, insulate him from impatient fans, and allow him to forget that anything less than 50 home runs in that short-porch Stadium would be a disappointment.
It’s a good sales pitch. But it would take a miracle for Boras to even consider it.
He knows Steve Cohen’s $14 billion portfolio is an elixir no one can resist. Not if you’re a Boras client like Soto. Hiring Boras means you’re all about the last dollar, which is exactly what Cohen wants to hear. You love money? Cohen is a human ATM.
That makes him the perfect target for a predator like Boras.
After all, Boras eats up rich owners like a hungry dog wolfing down meat. Why would any agent pass up the chance to dine with baseball’s wealthiest owner?
That’s why Steinbrenner has to channel his father, the real Boss, and commit to the unthinkable.
The only way to get on Soto’s long-range radar is to make him the highest-paid player in Yankees history. That means exceeding the $360 million Judge signed for last winter.
It’ll be the toughest call of Steinbrenner’s reign: make Soto the centerpiece of the franchise, richer than any Yankee, or risk losing the left-handed HR machine who was born for the Stadium’s short porch.
It bears repeating one more time: the Yankees have no realistic expectation of locking up Soto today or tomorrow or any time before next November. Soto is nevertheless worth the Hail Mary, He’s that good.
But Steinbrenner first has to come up with a survivable number. Whether it’s now or later, Soto will cost at least $500 million. Remember, he turned down a $440 million extension from the Nationals in 2022.
We’re talking about Judge’s salary – plus an additional 33 percent, minimum. And we haven’t mentioned the $300 million it’ll take to sign Yamamoto.
I’m certain the Steinbrenner family has the means to pay for all of this. Whether they want to is the question. But there’s nothing more the young Boss would like than to a) finally win a championship and b) get the fans off his back about being a cheapskate.
But it would take a sign-off from Judge to make Soto that rich. Bumping No. 99 down to No. 2 on the Yankees’ pay scale is no small matter. Judge is the franchise’s most popular player since Derek Jeter, the leader in the clubhouse, the team captain and one of Steinbrenner’s top advisors.
Judge is an all-around good guy. He wasn’t born with a gene for jealousy or pettiness. But only a year after being crowned The Man, asking Judge to suddenly take a back seat to a younger, potentially wealthier superstar could be jarring.
Although it would take some getting used to, I don’t believe Judge would ultimately stand in the way of making Soto a long-term Yankee. My gut says the two sluggers will get along better than Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
In the meantime, the Yankees family will begin learning whether Soto is attracted to the spotlight like a moth, or if he prefers a softer landing in New York.
Can he relax in front of the savages in the bleachers? Will the temptation of the right field wall corrupt his swing?
An even bigger question is how much can one player, even a richly talented one, improve the Yankees. Soto, after all, is only one part of the upgrade.
The Yankees need Yamamoto. They need several new relievers. They need to know if the aging D.J. LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo can hold off their declines for one more summer.
Spring training will offer a few hints, but the real test begins on Opening Day. That goes for Soto, too.
He’ll be auditioning for that mega-contract from the very first at-bat. Steinbrenner will be watching. He’ll be calculating Soto’s worth against his loyalty to Judge. Good luck with that.
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Bob Klapisch may be reached at [email protected].
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