For the losers in the Juan Soto derby, all is not lost.
Just one of the greatest free agents of all time and a generational left-handed hitter, is all.
Yet it’s nothing that can’t necessarily be overcome now that Soto is a New York Met for the norm-shattering price of $765 million over 15 years. The Mets are guaranteed nothing, save for a level of relevance possibly not seen since the 1980s and a cog in their lineup for the next decade and a half.
So what do Plans B, C and D look like for the spurned finalists?
Let’s explore:
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Yankees: How does Batman replace Robin?
No need to sugarcoat it: This is devastating for the Yankees.
Soto and Aaron Judge made for one of the great middle-of-the-order duos in major league history, combining for 99 home runs (apropos), joining with Giancarlo Stanton to reestablish a punishing Bronx Bombers presence and drive the Yankees to their first World Series since 2009.
With Soto tossed around like high-end leftovers through three franchises the past three years, he wasn’t going to miss his chance at calling his own shots, finally. And the Yankees knew the advantage of their one year of speed-dating was only going to go so far.
You get the sense owner Hal Steinbrenner got the sense that there would be no way he’d outbid Mets counterpart Steve Cohen, although adding a 16th year to the deal was a little bit pound-foolish; once you’re playing in that stratosphere, why even bother thinking about the luxury tax?
There are times to play the George Steinbrenner Is Dead card when analyzing Hal’s maneuverings, but this probably isn’t one of them. Lest we forget, when George passed away in 2010, the Mets owner had recently lost close to a billion dollars in a Ponzi scheme.
Steve Cohen is not Fred Wilpon. And for all the Steinbrenners’ generational wealth, the game has changed when hedge fund kingpins like Cohen own a ballclub. Can’t fault Hal too much for saying uncle when he was getting yanked down into Cohen’s bottomless pit of cash.
What now?
The answers are all suboptimal, to a degree. The Yankees can try to add power and address badly-needed upgrades by pursuing Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso or Christian Walker, with the first two options likely costing in excess of $200 million.
All three are right-handed hitters, however, which would badly imbalance the lineup around Judge. That’s where a trade for Cody Bellinger makes so much sense: They could likely import the lefty-hitting, athletically elite first baseman/outfielder from the Cubs for not much more than taking on the potential $52.5 million owed Bellinger this year and next (He has a player option for 2026).
Bellinger-Bregman would be a dynamic combo and could nudge Judge back to an outfield corner. It also would not hamstring the Yankees with too many dudes on long contracts well into their 30s, which is what an Alonso-Bregman exacta might look like, short-term gains notwithstanding.
Lest we forget, they finished last season with a pretty good starting pitching situation, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil all upright and often outstanding. That gives them a big advantage over almost every club both on the field and in their winter pursuits.
Sure, they can toss their hat in the Rōki Sasaki sweepstakes, which would be a massive boon. But in terms of big ticket items, a lefty bat and an elite corner guy would go a long way toward fulfilling the task the Yankees did not want to undertake: Replacing Soto in the aggregate.
Red Sox: Still Juandering aimlessly
It’s tough to flip a switch from six years of largely sitting out big-time free agency and aiming to build a “sustainable” winner to once again acting like the big-market behemoth they are. So credit the Red Sox for staying in the Soto sweepstakes until the end, reportedly reaching $700 million with their bid.
Yet the Red Sox also can’t shake their recent past, which has dimmed Boston as a destination and framed them as longshots for Soto’s services. So, back to the drawing board.
The Red Sox are still bereft of starting pitching, particularly as Lucas Giolito recovers from major arm surgery and Nick Pivetta hits free agency. They are strongly engaged on both remaining elite free agents – Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.
If building around Soto at Fenway Park is out the door, best to pivot toward run prevention. And the Sox likely have the financial wherewithal and want to sign one or both of Burnes and Fried.
But will they? The right-handed Burnes and lefty Fried are both California dudes, with the San Francisco Giants tied strongly to Burnes already. Would Fried consider Fenway Park the best environment for his repertoire given the parade of right-handed hitters he sees?
The Red Sox will flash the cash. The question is whether the players they need most will be inclined to sign up with a .500 team.
Blue Jays: Woe, Canada
The Blue Jays will be going for a three-peat next year, only come 2025, their own superstar will be the one in position to spurn their big-money offer.
They followed up their game but failed courtship of Shohei Ohtani with a similarly losing gambit on Soto and again, props for trying. But both pursuits engendered the feeling that not only were the Blue Jays losers in this battle, they weren’t particularly close.
And now they need to worry about locking up Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Perhaps we’ll learn more in the weeks and months ahead, but it was probably an easy no for Soto on Toronto when his would-be running mate in the lineup, the prodigious slugger Guerrero, was not signed beyond this year.
For a guy who desired control and certainty that his future club was going to win for a decade-plus to come, Soto could easily see a Guerrero-free future of 200 walks and third-place finishes in Toronto.
Now, the Blue Jays have little choice but to overbid, not only to maximize their playoff odds in the walk years of Guerrero and shortstop Bo Bichette, but also to convince Guerrero himself that it’s worth sticking around.
They’ve invested a lot already in pitching, what with a $110 million deal for Kevin Gausman and a $131 million extension for José Berríos. Just like that, though, Gausman is a free agent after 2026, and Chris Bassitt after this year. With money to burn, the Blue Jays should be swimming in both the Burnes-Fried waters and the mid-level class inhabited by Jack Flaherty, Nathan Eovaldi, Walker Buehler and Co.
They absolutely need offensive upgrades, but that may have to come closer to the margins. And nothing is more important than re-upping Guerrero, who now knows he’s one more good year away from replacing Soto atop next winter’s free agent ranks.
Perhaps that was going to be the case all along. But like Boston, the Blue Jays have failed in their attempt to create certainty – beyond a massive paycheck – for incoming free agents.
