Life without Juan Soto begins for the New York Yankees. Soto, who put together a career-best season with the Yankees in 2024, has agreed to a massive 15-year contract worth $765 million with the New York Mets. The Yankees were reportedly in it until the end, offering 16 years and $760 million, but Soto departed for the more lucrative pastures of Flushing.
Losing Soto is a devastating blow and now the Yankees must figure out a way to replace a player who is irreplaceable. MLB's Winter Meeting begin in earnest Monday in Dallas. Free agents are eager to sign and trade partners are ready to do business. There is no time for the Yankees to feel sorry for themselves. They must begin picking up the pieces post-Soto immediately.
With that in mind, here's what the Soto-less Yankees must do between now and Opening Day, in no particular order.
1. Get a first baseman (and another infielder)
The Yankees received some of the worst first-base production in franchise history in 2024. Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Ben Rice, and a few others combined to hit .216/.284/.335 with 16 home runs this past season. Yankees' first basemen did not hit a single home run after July 31. Sixty-six straight homerless games to end 2024, postseason included. Good gravy.
The good news is the bar is on the floor, and it shouldn't be difficult to upgrade first base. Going from their 2024 first basemen to even a league-average first baseman in 2025 would add several wins to New York's ledger, and there's a chance to add much more than a league-average first baseman this winter. Here are the top free-agent first baseman by FanGraphs' projected 2025 WAR:
- Pete Alonso: 2.6 WAR
- Christian Walker: 2.4 WAR
- Paul Goldschmidt: 1.7 WAR
- Josh Bell: 1.0 WAR
- Carlos Santana: 0.9 WAR
Goldschmidt just turned 37 and Santana will turn 39 in April, so there's risk there. Walker will turn 34 in March and he carries age-related risk as well, though he had a strong 2024 season and is maybe the best defensive first baseman in the game. I'm not sure the Yankees have the appetite for a big-money long-term deal for Alonso, but he's available.
Trade candidates includes Yandy Díaz (Tampa Bay Rays), LaMonte Wade Jr. (San Francisco Giants), Josh Naylor (Cleveland Guardians), and perhaps Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies). Bohm has played first base and the Yankees had interest in Díaz at the trade deadline. They've been connected to Walker in recent weeks too. There is no shortage of viable candidates.
Point is, getting a big first-base bat is the single biggest roster upgrade the Yankees can realistically make this offseason. It feels like a must with Soto gone. The Yankees need a second or third baseman too (Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play the other position). First base is a spot to add a big bat. Second or third base needs to be addressed as well.
2. Get an outfielder
The silver lining (if you can call it that) of Soto leaving is the Yankees can move Aaron Judge back to right field, his natural position, and not force him to run around center field in his age-33 season. Don't get me wrong, the Yankees would rather have Soto and be forced to play Judge in center (I'm guessing Judge would prefer that too), but at least now they can play their captain at his best position.
Judge in right still leaves center and left fields open. The Yankees could plug top prospect Jasson Domínguez in at either position, and they have two-time Gold Glover Trent Grisham on the roster, but with Soto gone, the Yankees need offense, and bringing in an outfielder to replace him seems like a no-brainer. As talented as Domínguez is, him as your second-best outfielder ain't great.
Teoscar Hernández and Anthony Santander are now the top unsigned free-agent outfielders, and every team that missed out on Soto figures to pivot to them, including the Yankees. Rather than pay them big bucks well into their 30s, the Yankees could turn to the trade market. Cody Bellinger (Chicago Cubs) is definitely available. Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago White Sox) seems to be as well and there's more there than his recent numbers would suggest.
The Yankees have been connected to Bellinger frequently the last year or so and, on paper, he fits their Soto-less roster well. He can play center field and first base, he's a lefty bat, and he adds some much needed athleticism and baserunning. Bellinger is owed $27.5 million in 2025, with a $5 million buyout for 2026, so perhaps that means you won't have to give up much talent to get him. It's worth a call at this point.
This is pretty straightforward. The Yankees had two regular outfielders become free agents this offseason (Soto and Alex Verdugo) and, even if they're ready to turn Domínguez loose, they must replace at least one. There is no replacing Soto. All the Yankees can do now is improve as many roster spots as possible. First base and center/left field are the spots to do it.
3. Create a more balanced team
With Soto gone, I suspect we're going to hear a lot of "the Yankees can now build a more balanced roster and better defensive team," which is true, but is also something they could have accomplished even after re-signing Soto. But I digress.
There is no denying the Yankees need more balance. Chisholm and catcher Austin Wells are their only left-handed hitters of note (and you kind of need lefty bats in Yankee Stadium) and they're a painfully slow and poor baserunning team. You live with Soto's lack of defensive and baserunning value to get the immense offense. With other players, not so much.
As the Yankees set out to upgrade first base, second or third base, and the outfield, these are things they need to keep in mind. They need another left-handed hitter or two, they need better defenders, and better baserunning would be nice too. Few players are going to check every box. The Yankees just have to check as many as they can along the way.
4. Rebuild the bullpen
New York's top three setup relievers all became free agents this offseason: Tim Hill, Clay Holmes (who is also heading to the Mets), and Tommy Kahnle. The Yankees have been very good at turning non-roster invitees and waiver claims and scrap heap pickups into quality relievers, and they'll need to do it again this offseason. As present, their bullpen looks like this:
- Closer: RHP Luke Weaver
- Setup: RHP Jake Cousins, RHP Ian Hamilton
- Middle: RHP Clayton Beeter, RHP Scott Effross, RHP Mark Leiter Jr.
- Long: RHP JT Brubaker, RHP Yoendrys Gomez
Brubaker and Effross haven't been healthy and effective in two years, Leiter was not good after coming over at the trade deadline, and Beeter and Gomez are unproven prospects. The Yankees have a clear need for at least one more high-leverage arm, and I'd argue they need three more given the bullpen-centric nature of the game today. They also need a lefty or two.
On paper, the Yankees have six starters for five rotation spots (Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman), which is a necessity and not a luxury. They could certainly add a starter and improve the rotation, though it is not as imperative as adding to the bullpen. That relief crew currently looks like one the shakiest in the game. Upgrades are a must.
5. Start winning back the fans
The natives are restless. They've been restless since long before the Yankees let Soto get away as a free agent too. The 2021, 2022, and 2024 seasons played out the same way (the Yankees wen 82-80 and missed the postseason in 2023):
- Start the regular season very well, enter the "best team in baseball" conversation
- Struggle at midseason and grind to the finish line
- Beat an AL Central team (or two) in the postseason
- Get eliminated by a big-market team that operates the same way, only better
Typically the Houston Astros have done the eliminating. This year it was the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Point is, after watching season after season play out the same way, it gets tiresome, and Yankees fans are running out patience. Losing Soto on top of that is the kind of thing that can push people to cancel season tickets, buy one fewer jersey, etc. Forget not gaining fans; this is how you lose fans.
The Yankees are immensely popular and don't have to work all that hard to sell out Yankee Stadium. They don't do a whole lot to cultivate fans. They haven't had a fan fest or winter caravan or whatever you want to call it in years. When they have a giveaway, there are 18,000 of them for a stadium that seats 46,000 people, and it's a nightmare to get into the ballpark to get the giveaway.
There is no making up for losing Soto. Beyond his production, he was immensely popular -- the biggest Dominican star in the game spent 2024 playing in front of the largest Dominican community in the country in the Bronx -- and fans are not happy he's been lost to the Mets as a free agent. Nor should they be. Add in losing the World Series and the other recent postseason failures, and vibes are bad.
This applies to every team, including the Yankees: Treat your fans better. Sports are unique in that customer loyalty (i.e. fandom) is passed down through the generations. Fans stick with you through the good and bad, so treat them better. They're not numbers in a spreadsheet to be exploited. The Yankees would do well to improve the fan experience. Show the people you love them back.
