With Juan Soto trade, Yankees operating like the Evil Empire again

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two weeks ago, former New York Yankees relief pitcher Zack Britton suggested the team had lost its aura. The Bronx was once an intimidating place to play, Britton said, but rival players would tell him that feeling was missing.

Britton suggested that the Yankees could recapture some of that intimidation factor from the late 1990s and early 2000s by employing the sport’s best players, given their revenue and a budget that almost no team could match. But the Yankees haven’t won a World Series title since 2009, took a considerable step back this year and did not appear close to being a legitimate contender.

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Late Wednesday night, all of that changed. The Yankees traded for Juan Soto, a 25-year-old generational talent who’s on a Hall of Fame track. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman traded four pitchers, highlighted by Michael King and Drew Thorpe, and longtime catcher Kyle Higashioka. It’s a high cost for a player who will be a free agent next offseason and is projected to earn more than $30 million in arbitration this season.

But more than anything, this move signifies that the Yankees are operating like the Yankees of old. Instead of holding on to quality pitching depth and worrying about the total cost of the deal, Cashman cashed in. The Yankees have put everyone on alert that they’re aggressively pursuing that elusive 28th championship ring.

“I feel like when you’re the GM of the Yankees, the manager of the Yankees, the owner of the Yankees or any person in any capacity with the Yankees, there’s always pressure to try to do really good impactful things on a day-in, day-out basis,” Cashman said earlier this week at the Winter Meetings. “Obviously, we are always certainly trying to be a playoff contender that can challenge for a World Series. And so when you fall short of that, you have the place this year, a lot of anger and questions. I don’t know if it’s any more pressure now than in the past because it’s always that goal. And it’s a goal that’s easy to fall short of, unfortunately, because I guess if you always bet the field if you’re playing Vegas odds every year no matter what because it’s hard to win a World Series. But that’s our standing goal, so we’re going to get back to it the best we can.”

Acquiring Soto now gives the Yankees two of the 10 best hitters in Major League Baseball. In Aaron Judge and Soto, the Yankees can firmly say that they — along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and the World Series champion Texas Rangers — have some of the best firepower at the top of any lineup. The Yankees wanted to solve the lineup imbalance that has ailed them the past few years and did so by adding Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham. And a lack of left-handed hitting options no longer exists when also factoring in Anthony Rizzo, switch-hitter Jasson Domínguez (out for around half of 2024 because of Tommy John surgery) and catcher Austin Wells.

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The Yankees realize that adding Soto isn’t enough, and that’s why they have no plans of stopping here. They’re expected to meet with 25-year-old Japanese starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto next week. Yamamoto, executives say, could command upward of $300 million in free agency. After losing Michael King, Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito in the Soto deal, the Yankees need more starting pitching. As of right now, either Clayton Beeter or Will Warren project to be in the rotation as a potential fifth starter. The depth past them is now very thin; that’s why Yamamoto is a priority for the organization.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has previously expressed hesitancy in eclipsing a total payroll that exceeds $300 million. Adding Yamamoto, and others like starting pitcher Frankie Montas and relief pitcher Wandy Peralta, who the team has expressed interest in according to Cashman, could see the team surpass that threshold and the “Steve Cohen tax” for the first time. Last month, Steinbrenner restated his belief that a team doesn’t need a $300 million-plus payroll to win a title, but also said if it meant the Yankees would be in a better position, he’d do what it takes. All of the Yankees’ actions this offseason suggest Steinbrenner is willing to put his checkbook where his mouth is.

“Everything is on the table when it comes to free agents, so if anybody comes to me with a deal and a piece that we feel we need to do in 2024 then I’m going to strongly consider it,” Steinbrenner said last month.

Steinbrenner and Cashman have delivered an astounding boost for the Yankees’ title hopes in 2024. The Dominican-born Soto will be a must-see attraction in The Bronx. That sound you hear is the Yankees’ brass blasting Jay Z’s “Public Service Announcement.”

The Evil Empire is back.

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(Top photo of Yankee Stadium: Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins / Getty Images)

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