How Yankees' 'near total focus' on Juan Soto impacted Blake Snell pursuit

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The New York Yankees have made it clear from the start that their number one priority this offseason is to pull out all the stops in convincing star right fielder Juan Soto to stay in the Bronx. Not only did they give up a few quality prospects to bring Soto in via trade from the San Diego Padres, the 26-year-old’s impact was felt immediately, as he combined with Aaron Judge to form the deadliest hitting duo in the middle of the order.

However, keeping Soto in a Yankees uniform won’t be easy; many teams are chasing after the 26-year-old right fielder, with Yankees rivals New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in hot pursuit of Soto. Thus, the Yankees have to dedicate a ton of effort to show how committed they truly are in keeping Soto, and in turn, it might be affecting their other would-be free-agent pursuits.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Yankees reportedly held a call with Blake Snell via Zoom before the 2022 NL Cy Young award winner decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, the Yankees’ “near-total focus” belongs to Soto, and as a result, their plan Bs “need to wait a bit”, as per Heyman.

Soto, according to reports, will be making his much-anticipated free agency decision around early December when teams convene with one another in the annual Winter Meetings. Yankees fans better be patient until then, as it’s likely that they remain completely inactive, at least with regards to huge free-agent signings, until the Soto situation finds its final resolution.

Yankees are not putting all their eggs in the Juan Soto basket

While keeping Juan Soto is the Yankees’ biggest priority and it will be disastrous for them if they were to lose him, they already have a Plan B in mind that involves attempting to replace Soto by adding a few quality players across multiple positions.

This reported Plan B involves the signings of first baseman Christian Walker, one of Willy Adames or Alex Bregman to play the hot corner, as well as to sign one of the best starting pitchers on the market (either Corbin Burnes or Max Fried). And to replace Soto in the outfield, the Yankees will reportedly look into a potential trade for centerfielder Cody Bellinger, which would then allow Aaron Judge to return to his natural position at right field.

If the Yankees lose out on Soto but manage to pull all of the moves mentioned above, then they should be back in the World Series hunt in 2025.

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