NASHVILLE, Tenn. — There is smoke surrounding the Yankees and Juan Soto, and neither Brian Cashman nor Aaron Boone are doing much to extinguish it.
As a potential trade for the superstar outfielder looms over the winter meetings — and, ultimately, the Yankees’ entire offseason — Cashman and Boone both raved about Soto on Tuesday when asked about him.
“He’s a transformational bat,” Cashman said at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. “He’s one of the best hitters in the game. So he’s an impact, period. But currently he’s an impact for somebody else. I know [Padres GM] A.J. Preller’s being open-minded to a lot of different things, as all of us should be as we enter the wintertime and try to figure out how to reconfigure our clubs to be what Texas turned out to be this year. And so we’ll see. But certainly he’s a great hitter.”
“He’s a machine offensively,” Boone said, speaking a few hours before Cashman. “On-base, power, has accomplished a ton already at a young age, durable, has been a central figure on a world championship team. Has come with a lot of fanfare and been one of the rock-solid performers in our sport on the offensive side of the ball, year in and year out. He’s a great player.”
That much is certain.
The only question is whether the Yankees and Padres will be able to agree on the group of players that would head to San Diego in return for Soto, who is one year away from free agency.
The Padres have asked for a package headlined by Michael King and prospect Drew Thorpe, The Post previously reported, with the Yankees not keen on dealing either of the pitchers.
Asked Tuesday whether he considered King untouchable, Cashman was realistic with the Yankees coming off an 82-80 season.
“After the year we’ve had, there’d be very few untouchables,” he said. “But obviously we value Michael King a lot. He’s been a very good player for us and it makes us better by having him here. That’s probably why players like him and others, despite having a bad year [as a team], we have a lot of players that teams are interested in. It’s a good thing.”
The Padres need to slash payroll, and with Soto projected to make $33 million in his final year of arbitration, trading him would be a quick way to do that.
While the Yankees should be able to take on that money, it remains to be seen whether they are willing to sacrifice a bevy of pitchers with multiple years of control for a player who is a one-year rental (with Scott Boras as his agent, Soto is likely to hit free agency instead of signing an extension).
“Those are the decisions you have to make,” Cashman said. “Depends where you think your team happens to be sitting and how helpful or impactful the area of need to fill is. You gotta weigh those decisions out and make a call at some point if you match up. So you got to first match up and then you got to make tough decisions.”
Adding a bat like Soto would help rejuvenate a Yankees offense that was one of the majors’ worst last season.
The 25-year-old left fielder is one of the game’s best hitters who also happens to bat left-handed, a major need for Boone’s lineup.
If the Yankees end up having to deal King or Clarke Schmidt from their current projected rotation, they could fill the hole by landing Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who they have scouted extensively.
They are far from his only suitors, though.
As for the Yankees’ competition for Soto, the Padres could decide to wait until Shohei Ohtani signs somewhere to get the teams who missed out on him involved in the bidding — with the Blue Jays among the teams pursuing both players.
But the Padres might also need a resolution on Soto before long so they can get on with the rest of their offseason plan.
“Do I want to trade any of these guys? The answer would be no,” Cashman said. “I like the players we have. I think our team is better than it showed last year. My job is to add to it, but you have to give to get. So unless you have a full no-trade clause, I’m gonna have to give something to get stuff that by our perception would improve our team and maybe improve our chances.”
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