The New York Yankees will try to do everything in their power to retain superstar outfielder Juan Soto this upcoming offseason. Since coming over to the Yankees, he has had the best season of his short major league career and is on track to become an AL MVP finalist by the season’s end.
Can the Yankees afford to bring back Juan Soto for the long haul?
The problem that comes with that is his gifted talent is going to cost a fortune to keep around long-term. Jim Bowden of The Athletic said that his next contract could stretch past the half-of-a-billion dollars mark, which would make him one of the richest players in professional sports.
“Juan Soto has been a game-changer for the Yankees this season and appears headed for a top-five finish in the American League MVP voting,” Bowden wrote. “He’s likely to sign a contract of more than half a billion dollars and both New York teams are expected to bid for his services.”
Deservedly so, the 25-year-old superstar will almost certainly receive a contract similar to what Mike Trout received from the Los Angeles Angels a few years ago, which was for 12 years and $426 million, at the time being the richest in MLB history. For a team like the Yankees that plays in one of the largest markets in the world, it may seem like an easy task for them, but it is far from that.
The Yankees want to decrease payroll this upcoming offseason
While the New York Mets are likely the main competitor that stands in the way of outbidding the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers have a payroll issue that they would like to solve. Their payroll this year is $302 million, the largest in the illustrious history of the franchise. Owner Hal Steinbrenner said back in May that a payroll that high will not be able to work long-term.
“Look, I’m gonna be honest, payrolls at levels we’re at right now are simply not sustainable for us financially,” Steinbrenner said via The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner. “They wouldn’t be sustainable for the vast majority of owners, given the luxury tax we have to pay.”
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So what does that mean for retaining Soto? The Yankees already have a ton of money attached to their fellow star players like Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. In a few years, they will be off of Giancarlo Stanton’s massive contract he signed with the Miami Marlins a decade ago, but until they get that money off of the books, it will be difficult for the Yankees to add more pieces through the open market.
They can theoretically still bring back Soto on a huge contract this summer as they can afford it – and they should for the sake of the team – but the team does have a lot of holes to fill, particularly in the infield. If they are unable to get off of more contracts than they probably wish, they will have to rely on the group they have to win them their long-awaited 28th World Series championship.
The Yankees will have to make difficult decisions in the winter in order to bring back Juan Soto
The group they have is more than capable of doing that, but they would like to be at a place where they know they have the talent level spread across the field to secure a title. Could Stanton perhaps be on the move in the winter to increase flexibility? Could the Yankees let a lot of key bullpen arms like Clay Holmes walk in their upcoming free-agent years? Nobody really knows what the Yankees’ plans are this winter in order to bring back Soto and pair him with MVP front-runner Aaron Judge during both of their prime years.
More will be known about the Yankees’ direction when the World Series is over, as the focus for now will remain on winning a championship in 2024. But if there is one thing that is clear, it is that they cannot afford to let their prized possession walk in free agency due to payroll issues caused by other players.
