Open for business: Yankees put ‘Plan B’ into effect

DALLAS — To the best of Brian Cashman’s recollection, the call came at about 10 a.m. Central Time on Sunday, not long after competing organizations were invited to submit their best and final offers for Juan Soto. The voice on the line belonged to Scott Boras, the super-agent with whom the Yankees’ general manager has struck numerous deals in past winters. They had fallen short on this one.

Soto was going to the Mets, agreeing to a landmark 15-year, $765 million pact that instantly became the largest in baseball history. Cashman swiftly set up a call with managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine; they, too, had been prepared to bestow the game’s richest contract upon Soto, with a final offer of $760 million over 16 years, including a $60 million signing bonus.

Instead, those funds are now available to bolster a roster that will look to defend its American League title without Soto. And while Cashman said that the Yankees are “not going to be drunken sailors” littering the free-agent market with Steinbrenner dollars, they will look to make several big moves before this version of the Bombers assembles for Opening Day on March 27 at Yankee Stadium.

“Listen, the Mets got a great player, so congratulations to them,” Cashman said. “Our work continues as we focus on our team and how to reconfigure. Our efforts on a year-in, year-out basis don’t change. We’re always trying to be the best team we possibly can be so we can get into the playoffs and take a shot at the World Series, so we’ll just obviously get back at it.”

When Cashman received that call from Boras, instructing the longtime GM that the Yankees’ “Plan A” would need to become a “Plan B,” 367 days had passed since the blockbuster trade that upended a different Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn. Soto would spend the walk year of his contract as a Yankee, injecting a unique blend of patience and power into the No. 2 spot of the club’s batting order.

Even then, Cashman recognized there was a chance that Soto might be a “Juan-and-done” in the Bronx; he cautioned as much in his remarks, though he was privately hopeful that the Yankees could find a way to retain a generational talent often compared to a young Ted Williams.

“We went in with eyes wide open,” Cashman said. “We recognized he was a significant talent and he was going to upgrade us, and he did. It’s not a deal we regret. He impacted us in a heavy way. I’m just sorry we fell short in the World Series, but he — with others — had a great part in getting us where we did, becoming American League champs in 2024.”

In free agency, the Yanks were wary of not only the Mets, but also the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers. Each day seemed to produce media reports anointing a different favorite, but when the bidding for Soto crept past $600 million, Bombers executives grew optimistic. Cashman said the figures moved beyond their comfort zone to “heights that I never would have expected,” as Steinbrenner went toe to toe with the Mets’ Steve Cohen.

Ultimately, as they worried all along, Cohen’s wallet proved deeper. Unlike Aaron Judge, who accepted the second-best offer to remain with the Yankees after the 2022 season, Soto would offer no discount.

Said manager Aaron Boone: “There’s disappointment when you’re with a guy for a year, get to know him, and it doesn’t end how you want. Then again, that’s sports. It doesn’t always go your way.”

The Yankees do not have the luxury of licking their wounds for long, not with Soto’s signing expected to set off a chain reaction of moves around the league.

“I just would say, Hal went above and beyond to try to find a way to keep Juan Soto in pinstripes,” Cashman said. “But there’s a lot of different ways to figure this thing out, and so we’re just going to have to figure it out a different way.”

Those thought exercises are underway. They have needs at first base, second base, two outfield spots, the starting rotation and in the bullpen, and assuming a moving target of $301 million for payroll, Cashman could have approximately $76 million to play with in terms of 2025 salaries.

With Zoom calls already having been conducted to serve as introductions with free-agent pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, the Yankees will cast a wide net on the free-agent and trade fronts to address those vacancies.

Pete Alonso, Walker Buehler, Carlos Estévez, Jack Flaherty, Paul Goldschmidt, Teoscar Hernández, Jurickson Profar, Carlos Santana, Anthony Santander, Tanner Scott and Christian Walker are among the free agents who could draw interest.

Trade possibilities include the Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger, the Phillies’ Alec Bohm and Garrett Crochet of the White Sox. Consider this an invitation to agents and rival GMs: the Yankees are absolutely open for business.

“Obviously, we just lost a big offensive force, but we also have guys that are certainly capable and quality and impactful,” Cashman said. “So how can I add to that? Is it run creation, run prevention, a little bit of both? How it all adds up together is all yet to be determined. The only thing I can tell you is, stay tuned.”