Brian Cashman: Yankees Weren’t Serious Contenders for Juan Soto

Cashman felt that the Nationals had other trade partners in mind. Soto ultimately went to San Diego.

The Yankees discussed Juan Soto with the Nationals, but Washington had other ideas.

Brian Cashman, in a Thursday interview with WFAN’s Craig Carton and Evan Roberts, said that talks for the superstar outfielder were never serious. It takes two teams to tango, and Nats general manager Mike Rizzo had other dance partners in mind.

“Nothing coming out of the Washington operation suggested that his best match was coming our way,” Cashman said. “I would take that as last year when [Max] Scherzer and [Trea] Turner got dealt to the Dodgers… Rizzo is a former scouting director and there are things he wants and will gravitate to, and his eyes and heart were set on other locations.

“San Diego or St. Louis were the likeliest spots I think, and we were able to determine we weren’t as much of a match for them as other places. That’s what all the noise was about and there was no surprise when he landed in San Diego.”

Soto, 23, did indeed join the Padres, as did Josh Bell. Washington acquired five players in the blockbuster, including Robert Hassell, Jarlin Susana, James Wood, C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and former Yankee Luke Voit.

Soto was not the only big name the Yankees were connected to, as it was reported that New York pursued Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani.

Cashman did not answer directly when asked about Ohtani. Instead, he said that, “I engaged the 29 other opponents of ours at all levels of their rosters for what was in play, and asked about players that might not even have been in play.”

While Cashman could not put together packages for Soto or Ohtani, he still had himself a busy period prior to the Aug. 2 trade deadline. Cashman acquired outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Harrison Bader and pitchers Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino and Scott Effross. New York also parted ways with Joey Gallo and Jordan Montgomery. 

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