Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Must Decide 'Where to Draw a Line' With Juan Soto's Free Agency

The New York Yankees might be forced to make a difficult decision regarding Juan Soto's impending free agency this offseason.

Grant Young

Oct 7, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) before the first inning for game two of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Oct 7, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) before the first inning for game two of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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Regardless of how the New York Yankees' 2024 campaign concludes, offseason priority No. 1 is going to be re-signing superstar Juan Soto.

Soto could go hitless in the rest of his postseason at-bats and will still likely command a record-breaking contract this winter; and that may still be a bargain, considering how good Soto has been to this point in his career along with him being just 25 years old.

The Yankees are reportedly preparing to go all-in on securing Soto to a long-term deal. And while they'll likely spare no expense on ensuring he remains in the Bronx, an October 8 article from Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer poses that New York's 'Toughest 2024-25 Free-Agency Decision' is whether Soto's asking price will ever reach a point where the Yankees would be better suited to spend that money elsewhere.

Rymer's predicted toughest free-agency decision for the Yankees is: "Where to Draw a Line on Juan Soto".

"Save for maybe peanut butter and chocolate, the Yankees and Juan Soto have proven to be the most perfect pairing imaginable. The partnership should last forever and ever and ever," Rymer wrote.

"It's going to cost the Yankees a lot to make that happen, however. Projections for Soto's contract typically fit into the $500 million range and even go as high as $600 million. Whatever it is, he's going to make Aaron Judge look affordable by comparison.

"That the Yankees can spend that kind of money isn't the issue here," he continued. "Rather, the dilemma they may have to reckon with is... At what point would the money Soto is demanding be better spent elsewhere?"

Rymer brings up a fair point, considering that the Yankees could likely add multiple All-Star caliber players to fill glaring roster holes with the amount of money signing Soto will require.

But this is a generational talent we're talking about. And most Yankees fans would likely agree that Soto is more than worthy of a king's ransom.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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