While it’s party time in Queens with the arrival of Juan Soto to the New York Mets with his historic 15-year, $765 million contract, in the Bronx the situation ahead of Opening Day for the Yankees is worrying. At least four other starters will miss considerable playing time and even the entire season, as is the case with ace Gerrit Cole.
With the benefit of hindsight, MLB analyst Jesse Rogers went after the Bronx Bombers management for not doing more to retain Soto, who at this point would have been a cornerstone in trying to rebuild the team with young ballplayers and try to fight for a playoff spot
Only during this offseason, the Yankees have lost: Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Gil, DJ LeMahieu and Gerrit Cole.
On Thursday, speaking on the podcast ‘Baseball tonight with Buster Olney’, Rogers considered that the decision of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman not to go all out to extend Soto was the worst they could have made within the team, because he had already proven his worth, reaching the World Series for the first time since 2009
“He got to the World Series. He was so close to winning the World Series that you take a chance. If I were a Yankees fan, I wouldn’t regret that.”
That’s why he said any team would want to bet on him and that’s why the Yankees should not regret hiring him for a year, but they should regret losing him
Juan Soto had a great season leading the Yankees’ offense, along with Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge: he batted .288, hit 166 hits and recorded 41 home runs and 109 RBIs in 157 games
The Yankees’ desperate plan to save their season
The reality for the Yankees is that they have had to improvise in search of quality, low-profile and cheap players to complete their roster, mainly to improve the skill of their infield and baserunning.
To that end, they brought in young players such as Jasson Dominguez, Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe. Baseball expert Joel Sherman suggested that the addition of Jazz Chisholm Jr. could be effective, after he hit 24 home runs, 73 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in 2023, with a .256 batting average.
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