Less than 24 hours after the New York Yankees completed a blockbuster trade to acquire All-Star outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged he has not yet entered into contract negotiations with the 25-year-old .
become a free agent after the 2024 season. It was reported last summer that one of the reasons the Yankees likely wouldn’t release two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is because team owner Hal Stein brenner apparently didn’t want the payroll of the club exceeded 300 million dollars it came out.
However, that claim was made before the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.MLB insider Andy Martino of SNY noted earlier this week that sources “familiar with owner Hal Stein brenner’s thoughts” said Stein brenner is willing to increase the club’s payroll to more than $300 million between the franchise’s interest in Soto and the signing of Japanese CEO Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Cashman indicated Thursday that Soto’s landing represents a “turn back in time” to when former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner created the “Evil Empire” hated by fans in the MLB community. Of course, Soto has hundreds of millions of reasons to hit free agency next fall, just like current Yankees captain Aaron Judge tested the free market last offseason.
Last but not least, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has put together baseball’s most expensive roster for 2023 and could essentially hand Soto a blank check days after the 2024 World Series ends.The Bronx Bombers haven’t been to a World Series since winning the 2009 Fall Classic, so they felt it was a good time to embark on just one campaign.
As happy as Yankees fans are on the first Thursday in December, their joy will turn to anger if Soto fails to end the club’s long championship drought and then moves elsewhere in about 12 months.
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