It’s all gone from The Bronx now, the sizzle, the daily excellence, the at-bats conducted with flourishes of both art and science, those must-see moments watching a brilliant craftsman in the batter’s box. Juan Soto left the Yankees Sunday to join the Mets for a reported $765 million over 15 years, pending escalators, opt-outs and, perhaps, other fine print.
For the Yanks, it’s gotta hurt. Heck, anyone who likes baseball should be sad that Soto and Aaron Judge will never be back-to-back in the same lineup again.
But the Yanks have little time to convalesce. Judge’s prime is now. So is Gerrit Cole’s. The Yankees were a World Series team last season, but their lineup just lost a generational hitter, plunging the club into what should be urgency mode. They must pivot and find reinforcements. If Soto was a splurge – they reportedly offered Soto $760 million over 16 years, a hefty bid – now they need to spread at least a big chunk of that money around to fill multiple holes.
And they should start by going after Pete Alonso, the Mets’ free agent. Is this leaning too much into “narrative?” Maybe. But the Yankees need a first baseman and can you imagine the rockets someone with Alonso’s thunder would launch at the bandbox known as Yankee Stadium? Alonso might as well switch sides of town – Soto, still only 26, will be the one breaking all the Mets’ offense records over the next 15 years.
So put Alonso in pinstripes and let him and Judge – and Giancarlo Stanton – take turns hitting mammoth homers.
Taking Alonso from the Mets is not without value, either, at least in the rivalry between fans. Those who love the Mets are trumpeting the Soto move as the moment their favorite team shed “little brother” status and changed New York back into a Mets town. Remember the mid-1980s, when the brash bunch from Queens ran baseball here?
Not exactly glory days for the Yankees.
So there is a lot at stake this Yankee winter. Their World Series drought remains alive, eating at their fan base and at those who walk the franchise’s corridors of power. They have to determine whether Soto’s departure is an isolated case or, perhaps, something deeper. Why did a player who thrived in The Bronx and enjoyed a run to the Fall Classic go elsewhere, especially if the money wasn’t drastically different?
The fact that the Yankees were a known quantity for Soto seemed like an advantage for the Yankees, but it apparently ended up not moving the needle much. The lure of the pinstripes? Evidently not compelling enough to keep Soto at River Avenue and 161st Street.
But they must move on. There’s plenty more on their roster to-do list.
They need either a second baseman or third baseman, depending on where they decide Jazz Chisholm fits best. They must rebuild the bullpen, recently such a big part of their pitching success. They have a full rotation, but is it good enough? Maybe they don’t think so, because they’ve reportedly had talks with both Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, the two biggest starters remaining on the free-agent market, and they’ve been linked to young White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet on the trade front.
Without Soto, their lineup looks thin. There’s other power still available on the free-agent market beyond Alonso – Anthony Santander hit 44 home runs for the Orioles last year. That’s 10 more than Alonso and three more than Soto. Christian Walker, another possibility for first base, is available, as is Teoscar Hernandez, who 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 tail end of their last dynasty, could man center field – Judge would shift back to right – or even first base.
Even as they ache over Soto’s departure, there are plenty of ways the Yanks can fortify this winter. Maybe spreading around some of that Soto money to bolster multiple spots is their ticket back to the World Series. If they make the right moves.
Alonso could be one of them. It would make for great theater, at least. What if the Yanks did get back to the World Series, helped by someone they took from the Mets?
Whose town would it be then?
