Yankees Owner Asserts New Additions Make Up For Loss of Juan Soto

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner made a bold claim about how his team has atoned for Juan Soto's departure.
Dec 21, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; Hal Steinbrenner during a press conference at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images
Dec 21, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; Hal Steinbrenner during a press conference at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images / Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images
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New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner conducted a January 29 interview with Meredith Marakovitz of the YES Network.

Any time the big boss offers his opinion on anything Yankees-related, the organization and its fanbase typically take note (and rightfully so). This is why it was compelling to hear that New York's front office is currently in negotiations with manager Aaron Boone for a contract extension.

"I’ve always thought Aaron Boone was a very good manager, and that is his reputation in the industry. We will be talking with him in the days and weeks to come,” Steinbrenner said. 

Boone's contract isn't the only thing Steinbrenner discussed with Marakowitz. A January 28 X post from Max Goodman of NJ.com alluded to several other discussion topics; one of which pertains to the Yankees' roster without Juan Soto.

"Steinbrenner believes the #Yankees are a better team right now than they were a year ago (with Juan Soto). He also thinks Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt will 'make up for a good deal of Juan's offense' in 2025," Goodman wrote in his post.

While this positivity is nice to hear from Steinbrenner, 2024 stats don't necessarily support his words.

Juan Soto's WAR in 2024 was a staggering 7.9. In contrast, Bellinger's 2024 WAR was 2.2 and Goldschmidt's was 1.3.

Therefore, Bellinger and Goldschmidt's combined WARs in 2024 are less than half of what Soto produced.

Then again, both veteran players are coming off of down years, and it's realistic to expect them to improve their stats in 2025 (especially Goldschmidt).

If Bellinger and Goldschmidt can perform somewhere close to where they were when they each won MVP awards (2019 for Bellinger and 2022 for Goldschmidt), Steinbrenner's optimism will prove true.


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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for On SI. 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. You can follow him on X: @GrvntYoung