If the Yankees lose Juan Soto, what they should diligently work to gain is aligning as an actual team.
The joke that Soto was named an AL right field Gold Glove finalist is that the Yankees had a proper candidate for the honor; just Aaron Judge was miscast in center field.
And while Jazz Chisholm Jr. might have the attributes to play third base, he was lost too often at the hot corner.
Juan Soto is now a free agent.
Can Judge play center and can Chisholm play third? Sure. The Yankees just went that way and emerged from a watered-down version of the AL to play in the World Series. Judge is fine in center and Chisholm could potentially rise to that at third. It was a worthwhile exchange when the best hitter in the world was in right field and Gleyber Torres was hitting enough to hold second.
But Torres almost certainly will be gone and the Yankees at least have to brace for a Plan B if Soto ends up on the other side of the RFK Bridge or anywhere outside of The Bronx.
Here’s the problem: Center field and third base are two of the hardest positions at which to find quality. The best free-agent center fielder is Harrison Bader. The best free-agent third baseman is Alex Bregman. And if you heard Brian Cashman’s latest broadside on the issue, it isn’t like he has exactly forgiven the 2017 Astros, for whom Bregman was the third baseman. The next best free agent at the position might be Gio Urshela.
Can you imagine the Yankees losing Soto and part of the replacement plan is the Bader/Urshela reunion tour?
It is why the Yankees’ easiest path to an uncomplicated offseason is to find a way back to Soto, even if it means living with Judge in center for a while longer. But let’s at least go through the exercise of how to move forward if Soto exits.
The Yankees can say that Jasson Dominguez is going to play center, but watching him try to field late in 2024 should not fill anyone with confidence that he can handle center field — and that is also assuming he will definitely hit as a full-time major leaguer. Judge can return to center, but he will play at 33 next year and removing some wear and tear by playing him in the small Yankee Stadium right field has short- and long-term value. And Chisholm played center for the Marlins, but it does not make much sense to move from one out-of-position locale to another.
I can imagine the Orioles trading Cedric Mullins to go with a less expensive alternative, but not to the Yankees. I can’t imagine the Rockies would move NL Gold Glove winner Brenton Doyle at all. It means there is no obvious both-sides-of-the-ball candidate for the Yankees.
The White Sox are open for business on Luis Robert Jr., who with options included has three years at $55 million left. But he feels like a Yankee problem as much as a solution — a high-strikeout player whose hustle and fundamental attention drifts.
Would Cleveland consider moving Lane Thomas entering his walk year? Are the Braves going to tender a contract before his walk year to Ramon Laureano and — even if they do — would he be available? Do the Yankees still believe Laureano can be a strong defensive center fielder and at least the righty part of a platoon with the switch-hitting, but better from the left side Dominguez?
Jazz Chisholm often looked lost at third base this past year.
Would the Diamondbacks move Jake McCarthy? And, if not him, Alek Thomas, whose offensive struggles led to him being demoted to the minors last season? Would the Astros trade Jake Meyers or the Rangers deal Leody Taveras, two defensively high-end players whose offense also plummeted last season?
Of all of these, Thomas and McCarthy are imperfect, but the best options — and, therefore, possibly not gettable. But you also see, it is not a no-brainer field.
At third base, the Yanks could again live with Chisholm or move him to second and hope some combo of Jon Berti, Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza provides them hot-corner answers. That is a prayer, not a plan.
Bregman is a winning player and Cashman should get over his Astro-phobia, especially since the Yankees have already employed 2017 Astros J.D. Davis, Marwin Gonzalez and Cameron Maybin.
Bregman instantly would make the Yankees better defensively and headier fundamentally — two areas of desperate need. But he would not come worry-free. He is not an imposing guy and his righty power was definitely helped by the Crawford Boxes in Houston in a way the vast Yankees left field would work against him. His walk rate was cut in half in 2024.
And yet, in a Soto-free world, I think the Yankees should go for Bregman at third and the Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker at first and have two legit Gold Glovers on the corners, with Chisholm back at second and Anthony Volpe at short. It is suddenly a very good infield defensively — and probably offensively too if you believe Volpe is going to improve. I know the sexier first base name is Pete Alonso and replacing Soto that way would feel famous-name great. But over the course of a season Walker is a far better all-round player than Alonso and would help a team win more.
Aaron Judge misplays a fly ball in center field during Game 5 of the World Series on Oct. 30, 2024.
I think the Yankees have to not think about stars or man-to-man replacing Soto, but rather having a better functioning positional group than the Keystone Kops who helped cost them a World Series. The reality is that the closest lefty bat-wise they could get in this free-agent market to Soto (.288/.419/.569) is Joc Pederson (.275/.393/.515). But Pederson can no longer play the outfield regularly and the Yankees already have a full-time DH in Stanton and don’t need another in Pederson — or Alonso.
There are other third basemen available. The Cardinals would move Nolan Arenado, who is a strong defender still and whose luxury-tax hit (because the Rockies are still paying some) would be a very seemingly reasonable $23.07 million annually for the next three years. But Arenado has had his offense go the wrong way in his age-32 and -33 seasons the last two years and may just never be fully happy anywhere.
Are the Twins desperate to get out of the four years, $128 million left on Carlos Correa, who was willing to play third base with the Mets? Problems: He is injury-prone, has never played third and also was a 2017 Astro.
The Yanks were once criticized for not outbidding the Red Sox on Yoan Moncada as an international free agent. Now Moncada is an MLB free agent entering his age-30 season. He is a switch-hitter with upside, but it has been since 2021 when he was last a healthy/productive player, plus he was another White Sox whose reputation for playing the game right was dubious.
Again, there is no easy way to get the positional group correct with or without Soto. But the best path without him is to tighten the defense and fundamentals with good players while hoping some of the offensive loss is made up with Bregman/Walker and also a full season of Chisholm, a switch from Alex Verdugo to Dominguez and growth from Volpe and Austin Wells.
