Plan A for the New York Yankees is to sign Juan Soto back on a deal that’s likely worth $600 million-plus. After signing Soto, New York would pivot to smaller, cheaper options like Walker Buehler and Christian Walker to fill out the other holes on the roster.
Plan B is much harder to predict. What happens if New York doesn’t land Soto? What would owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman do?
The answer isn’t predictable, per se, but it’s simple. The Yankees would look to acquire as much talent as possible, regardless of fit.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post has revealed New York has already had interviews with a few of these emergency backup options.
“The Yankees recently staged calls with star free agent starters Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, along with several other top available players, but remain almost solely focused on Soto and have not made offers to the pitchers, who might merely be part of the Yankees’ Plan B in case Soto goes to the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Blue Jays or perhaps an unknown mystery team,” Heyman wrote.
Hearing that New York is in the starting pitching market should come as a bit of a shock because the Yankees have five or six MLB-caliber starters. But they don’t have the dominant rotation they would like to have.
A backup plan for Soto could look like anything. They will be adding to the infield, outfield, bullpen, and seemingly the starting rotation. It’s going to be absolute chaos around the league when Soto agrees to a deal.
The Yankees also reportedly met with starting pitcher Blake Snell on a Zoom call this week, likely signaling that he was also part of the Yankees’ backup plan. Snell ended up agreeing to a five-year, $182 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, though.
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