The biggest news of last winter’s free agent frenzy was undoubtedly the shocking move that former New York Yankees star outfielder Juan Soto made to the team’s hated cross-town rivals in the New York Mets.

Soto, who was coming off his only season with the Bronx Bombers that ended in a World Series appearance, signed a record-breaking $765 million deal to spend the next 15 years of his career in Queens wearing a Mets uniform.

Despite how much the signing might have stung, though, some wondered if the Yankees might be better off in the long run.

After all, GM Brian Cashman was ultimately able to use the money it would have taken to bring Soto back to make several signings that filled holes along his roster, headlined by bringing on former Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried.

Fried alone is already proving to be a key part of the team’s success with a 3-0 record and a 1.88 ERA. Newly acquired closer Devin Williams has also been a massive boost to the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen.

It’s highly unlikely that the team would have been able to make these key additions if they had re-signed Soto. On the other hand, Soto has gotten off to an extremely rocky start with his new team.

Entering play on Wednesday, Soto has slashed just .250/.392/.467 with three home runs and seven RBI. By comparison, the Yankees have gotten much better production from Ben Rice for only a fraction of the cost.

Luckily for the Mets, this slow start hasn’t made much of a difference so far as they’re currently sitting atop the NL East with an 11-7 record, but their new superstar’s slow start has still caused some concern.

All of this has only been compounded by the fact that Soto is making $51 million this season with no deferrals. Any player bringing in that kind of money is going to be expected to produce immediately.

This isn’t to say that Soto will continue to underperform for the rest of the season, or that the massive contract he signed can be written off as an awful deal. It’s still far too early for any of those discussions to be had.

Based only on the early returns both teams have gotten, though, it’s hard to argue that the Yankees are in a worse off position so far with their new signings than they would have been if they had used that money to bring back Soto.