The New York Yankees are in the middle of the MLB playoffs, so they are probably not even thinking about the offseason right now. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer recently penned a piece about each team’s toughest decision heading into free agency, and for the Yankees, it was Juan Soto.
But the question was not whether or not New York should re-sign him. It was to what length the Yanks should go in order to ensure that he stays.
Rymer notes that Soto could earn around $600 million and that wonders if the Yankees should actually dole out that much to one player.
“That the Yankees can spend that kind of money isn’t the issue here,” Rymer wrote. “Rather, the dilemma they may have to reckon with is the same one we just applied to the Mets: At what point would the money Soto is demanding be better spent elsewhere?”
Considering Shohei Ohtani just landed a $700 million contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers, $600 million sounds like chump change by comparison. Well, maybe not exactly, but it’s still cheaper, and it’s not like it’s unprecendented.
Now, that being said, the Dodgers handed Ohtani that deal under the impression that he will be pitching again at some point in the near future. That isn’t the case with Soto, who is fairly one-dimensional: a phenomenal hitter, but certainly not a five-tool player.
Soto slashed .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI over 713 plate appearances in the Bronx this year. The Yankees initially acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the San Diego Padres last December.
Barring a drastic turn of events, it seems hard to imagine the New York Yankees not retaining Juan Soto.
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