NYY News: Waiting for Soto
Yesterday at 12:00 AM
Hot stove could stay rather lukewarm while waiting for Juan Soto's decision; The mechanics behind Aaron Judge's October slump; Yankees can't repeat the same mistakes they made with Robinson Canó.
New York Post | Dan Martin: Juan Soto's free agency will be the dominant storyline over the coming weeks, and how long he takes to make his decision will influence the rest of the market. While there's no reason to believe Soto's free agency will stretch late into the offseason like some other stars' have, he still could hold up the market while he deliberates. For example, teams that miss out Soto will have interest in a number of other top hitters, whether that's Alex Bregman, Willy Adames, Christian Walker, and on down. Players such as those may need to hold their horses until Soto chooses between the Yankees, the Mets, and all the other suitors.
FanGraphs | Esteban Rivera: We turn to an old friend to give us some post-mortem analysis of Aaron Judge's playoff slump. Esteban goes deep on the mechanics behind Judge's October struggles this year, and compares them to the slump Judge went through at the beginning of the 2024 season. Many of same the issues that plagued Judge in April resurfaced in the postseason, and it was a similar adjustment that fixed those issues, though it was a little too late to turn the World Series in the Yankees' favor.
New York Post | Joel Sherman: (subscription required) Sherman compares the situation with Juan Soto to that of Robinson Canó, when the star second baseman hit free agency 11 years ago. He opines that the Yankees can't let what happened in 2013 repeat itself in 2024. It's not just that the Yankees lost Canó; it's that their spending in the wake of Canó's departure was haphazard, with the likes of Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltrán mostly disappointing over the next few seasons while Canó flourished at the beginning of his deal with Seattle. Soto needs to be Plan A, and if they miss on him, the Yankees' Plan B needs to be better executed.
MLB.com | Jacob Rill: The Orioles announced they'll be moving in their cavernous left field next season. General Manager Mike Elias said the team was seeking a "happier medium; the wall won't be as shallow as it was before Baltimore pushed it back in 2022, but not as deep as it was the last few seasons. The height of the new wall will also come down. If Gleyber Torres returns, or lands in the AL East, he'll surely be salivating when traveling to Camden Yards.
