Happy days are here again for the Yankees and their fanbase. We have been waiting what seems like forever for Hal & Cashman to make "the move", the one that for years has been dubbed "The Yankees being the Yankees". The NY Yankees acquired OF Juan Soto in a trade late last night, the type of trade that would make The Boss proud. The type of trade that reminded the baseball world that Hal's last name is indeed Steinbrenner.
Brian Cashman set a goal of acquiring 2 left-handed hitting outfielders this offseason. In a little over 24 hrs he got 3 (Alex Verdugo from Boston, and Trent Grisham in the Soto trade are the others.) He addressed one of the biggest holes in the Yankees roster in recent years, LH hitting and guys that get on base with Verdugo & Soto. Grisham is a 2 time gold glove winner who is likely to see plenty of time as a 4th OF. Brian Cashman has made the Yankees better than the team that ended the 2023 season. And I don't think he's done yet.
Don't get me wrong the Yankees gave up a haul, but they made the move they needed to make for 2024. I personally liked Michael King a lot, was looking forward to seeing him win a rotation spot this spring. Drew Thorpe led the minors in K's in 2023 and has a ton of potential. Brito & Vazquez both look like they can have solid major league careers when it's all said and done, and Higgy was a solid Yankee with a ton of heart who the pitchers loved throwing to. This trade is a win-win for both sides, the Yankees got the superstar they coveted, and the Padres got very good players in return for a guy they couldn't afford to pay and were never going to resign. A move that can set up both teams for years to come.
We can't ignore that every move the Yankees make is always met with some sort of pessimism. You will see plenty of "You traded all that for 1 year of Soto", "Good luck with Judge in CF", etc. Fact is yes the way it looks right now Aaron Judge will start the year as the everyday CF, a position he last played semi-regularly in 2022 when oh wait he it 62 HR's and won the MVP. Judge loves CF and doesn't hurt you out there at all. I'm good with it as we likely know it's at most a 1 year move with Jasson Dominguez due back at some point in the 2nd half of the season. Grisham will see plenty of time out there this season as well. To me the most interesting thing here is where Soto will play. My best guess is where he is most comfortable and that is RF. And I don't just mean in 2024. The Yankees are obviously committed to trying to sign Soto long term, you don't make this type of move if that is not your intention. You have to think that Soto is likely going to want to play that position going forward and will look for that when considering his future options it's likely to play a significant factor. That means looking down the road likely at some points this season and more permanently in 2025 if Soto resigns, you are looking at Aaron Judge in LF. They sampled this briefly in spring training last year with Judge in left and Stanton in right, to me Judge is a solid defensive OF and can handle any position out there well. We shall see how it plays out, but these are surely good problems to have. The 2024 Yankees will be playing for 2024, the rest will sort itself out.
Now we will move on to Monday's meeting with Yoshinobu Yamamoto to see if Hal & Cashman can make Yankees Fans dreams of a "YamaSoto" Christmas come true. For now let's just enjoy step 1, Juan Soto is a New York F'n Yankee!!!
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