Now that the dust has begun to settle following Juan Soto’s eventual defection from the Yankees to the Mets for $800 million, the question is, to what extent has the balance of power in New York baseball actually changed?
On the face of it, the loss of a superstar player of Soto’s caliber severely weakened the Yankees while, at the same time, pundits proclaimed that the Mets were now in the same class as the National League’s elite teams : the Dodgers, the Braves and the Phillies. But in just two weeks, the Yankees have made three major moves to improve their post-Soto fortunes, while the Mets have seemingly been stuck at a standstill by failing to address their biggest need – start pitching – which was also their biggest. much needed before even starting. signed Soto.
Digging first into their war chest of $750 million in money saved on Soto, the Yankees gave Max Fried the largest contract ever for a left-handed pitcher, eight years, or $218 million. Although this was a considerable overpayment (certainly in years) for a 30-year-old pitcher with a recent history of forearm problems and who has only thrown more than 180 innings once over the course of a season, there’s no denying that Fried is a true ace and the perfect complement to Gerrit Cole at the top of their rotation. They then quickly followed up by trading to the Brewers for former All-Star closer Devin Williams, significantly strengthening their pitching staff both up front and backfield.
OK, fine, said the Yankee skeptics, but how are they going to replace those 41 home runs, 109 RBIs and 128 runs scored by Soto? The answer is no, but the acquisition of Cody Bellinger from the Cubs last week gives them a player with decent power and speed, superior defense and athleticism and, unlike Soto, already has won the MVP award and sincerely wanted to be a Yankee.
The Yankees are hoping that most of that lost production from Soto can be covered by a combination of Bellinger in center, Jasson Dominguez in left, further improvement in Austin Wells behind the plate and whoever they end up signing for first aim. Clearly, a lot depends on Dominguez, who received his first chance as an everyday player, to finally live up to the immense hype that followed him after his franchise-record signing of $5.1 million in international free agent bonus as a 16-year-old guard. in 2019.
Of course, the name of the game in baseball is, and always has been, pitching and it must be said that from top to bottom, the Yankees’ pitching is currently far superior to the Mets’. When it comes to pitching, Mets chief of baseball operations David Stearns has so far avoided any expensive, long-term Fried-style deals, opting instead for short-term, often reclamation projects, like Luis Severino and Sean Manaea, before, and now Frankie. Montas, Clay Holmes and Griffin Canning so far this offseason. Manaea is reportedly looking for a four-year deal after his season with the Mets last year – which he will likely get – and that’s why Stearns failed to lure him back into the fold. Queens.
But even with the massive addition of Soto, does Stearns seriously envision the Mets going to the World Series with a rotation made up of any sort of combination of Montas, Canning, Holmes, David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Kodai Senga ( or a hopeful breakthrough from Brandon Sproat) – and not a legitimate #1 workhorse (a la Chris Sale, Zack Wheeler) among them? If he’s not interested in participating in Corbin Burnes, it seems to me that it would behoove Stearns to participate in the Mariners’ auction of Luis Castillo or the Marlins’ Jesus Luzardo. He has the prospect capital to get either, and if he doesn’t make a major upgrade to his rotation, he risks wasting Soto.
IT’S A MAD, MAD WORLD
What about Roki Sasaki? The Mets reportedly met last week with the 23-year-old Japanese prodigy, who all scouts agree would certainly qualify as a true starter at the top of the rotation. However, due to his age, Sasaki was designated an international amateur free agent and can only sign a minor league contract, making That of Steve Cohen deep pockets are irrelevant. The Yankees also plan to meet with Sasaki, but he is said to not be interested in signing with an East Coast club and will most likely end up with the Padres (whom he is said to be very close to Yu Darvish) or the Dodgers. …The Rays’ situation in Tampa remains in limbo despite the Pinellas County Board returning to its original dissenting position with a 5-2 approval to advance the sale of $312.5 million in bonds for the proposed $1.3 billion ballpark to be built as part of a massive redevelopment. from the St. Petersburg Gasworks section, where Tropicana Field is located. The new obstacle to a deal is that the county’s delay in approving the bond issue has made it impossible to prepare the new stadium for the 2028 season and cost overruns for a year’s delay have been estimated at just over of 100 million dollars. Department owner Stu Sternberg is reluctant to shell out more money and the Rays would be responsible for the cost overruns. It took a personal meeting with Rob Manfred and the previously dissenting Pinellas County commissioners to change their minds. But the commissioner clearly wants the Rays to stay in the Tampa Bay market and new speculation is swirling that if the St. Pete deal falls through, Manfred could order Sternberg to sell the team and cause renewed interest from Tampa at a proposed stadium in the downtown section of Channelside, near the Lightning hockey arena.
