The Yankees have gone all-in.
A day after acquiring a superstar for perhaps just one season, GM Brian Cashman acknowledged as much.
Juan Soto has arrived in a historic trade, but there do not seem to be any guarantees he will be in The Bronx long term.
“He’s a free agent at the end of this term,” Cashman said over Zoom on Thursday. “But we understand it’s a possible short-term situation. I know he’s going to make our team significantly better.”
A day after pulling off the trade — sending pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito and Randy Vazquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka to San Diego — Cashman called Soto “one of the best hitters in the game today.”
The 25-year-old might be the best lefty hitter in baseball, coming off a season in which he finished with a .930 OPS. The Yankees scored the sixth-fewest runs in baseball during 2023, which Cashman has labeled “a disaster.”
Among the many reasons the year went awry was a dearth of quality bats from the left side.
Soto, who comes with power and maybe the best batting eye in MLB, is precisely the kind of hitter the Yankees have wanted.
The notable downside is his contractual situation. His agent, Scott Boras, generally wants his clients to hit the open market rather than being locked up to extensions early.
That’s a concern for later, though.
“The future is always now,” Cashman said.
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