The biggest storyline for the New York Yankees heading into the MLB offseason was, what will the future hold for star right fielder, Juan Soto?
After finishing third in the MVP race, and combining with the winner of the award, Aaron Judge, to be one of the most dominant duos in MLB history, he was set to cash in as a free agent.
It was a polarizing free agent pursuit given how rare it is for a player of his caliber to hit the market at all. His resume speaks for itself and the Yankees knew that they were going to have to back up the Brinks truck to retain him.
Alas, they ultimately lost out as Soto agreed to a historic 15-year, $765 million deal with the crosstown rival New York Mets. It was the largest contract in sports history as their owner, Steve Cohen, was not going to be outbid.
Replacing a player of that caliber is no small task.
He recorded a career-high 7.9 WAR as one of the most complete hitters in the game. His slash line was .288/.419/.569, as he hit 41 home runs with 31 doubles and four triples with 109 RBI.
Soto continued his insane streak of drawing more walks than times struck out for the fifth campaign in a row. His strike zone recognition is truly remarkable when taking into consideration how often his peers go down on strikes.
There wasn’t a singular player available this offseason that can replicate what he does at the plate.
But, New York could actually be better off now that he has moved on.
The money that was allocated toward Soto was not able to be spread amongst the entire roster, filling other holes that existed.
As Bryan Hoch of MLB.com noted, the biggest storyline for the Yankees now is whether or not they are a more complete team despite losing a perennial MVP candidate.
The answer is yes.
Soto helped the team get to the World Series for the first time since 2009, but their roster was flawed. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated them in five games mostly because they played a cleaner and more consistently productive brand of baseball.
New York had to be embarrassed with how Dodgers players talked about some of the shortcomings the Yankees had in the series and it led to some real changes being made with the roster.
Instead of bringing back one player, Soto, general manager Brian Cashman was able to make several impact additions.
The big ticket item in free agency was starting pitching Max Fried, giving the team arguably the best rotation in baseball joining Gerrit Cole, Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt.
The former Atlanta Braves All-Star wasn’t the only addition to the pitching staff, as the team acquired All-Star closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers as well.
Former MVP Cody Bellinger was acquired in a trade from the Chicago Cubs and will be tasked with phenom prospect Jasson Dominiguez to replace Soto and Alex Verdugo in the outfield.
Another former MVP, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, was signed in free agency and should be a sizable upgrade over Anthony Rizzo.
There is still a need at third base, but if the team can find a taker for starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, that money can be reallocated into the hot corner.
Losing Soto certainly hurt after seeing what he and Judge were capable of doing together. But when stacking up the projected 2025 lineup against what New York had in the World Series against Los Angeles, it is clear the Yankees now have a stronger group.
