Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Predicted to Sign Ex-Rival Slugger to Fill Outfield Hole

The New York Yankees have been predicted to sign an elite slugger to replace Juan Soto.

Grant Young

Sep 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander (25) hits a solo home run during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Sep 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander (25) hits a solo home run during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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With Juan Soto now out of town (well, not exactly), the New York Yankees need somebody to replace him in right field next season.

They were in pursuit of a trade for former Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker before Tucker ended up getting traded to the Chicago Cubs instead.

This means the Yankees must look elsewhere for another outfielder and middle-of-the-lineup offensive presence. And according to a December 13 article from Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller, former Baltimore Orioles slugger Anthony Santander would be the perfect fit.

"Prediction: 5 years, $100M to the New York Yankees," Miller wrote for Santander's free agency forecast.

"It's going to be quite the drop from Soto's .419 on-base percentage to Santander's career mark of .307 in that department, but a switch-hitting right fielder who clubbed 44 home runs last season is about as good of a plan for replacing Soto as there could be," he wrote.

"Santander is no one-year wonder in the slugging department, either. Since the start of 2022, only Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Matt Olson have hit more dingers than Santander's 105.

"He has done some real damage at Yankee Stadium, too, with three home runs there in 2024 alone. And if he had played exclusively at Yankee Stadium over the past three seasons, Baseball Savant suggests he would have hit 113 home runs instead of 105," Miller continued.

"Even without Soto, New York could have quite the top seven in the lineup with Santander joining Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and the fabled wunderkind Jasson Domínguez."

If the Yankees could sign Santander while also either signing Alex Bregman or trading for Cody Bellinger, that would constitute an aggressive and successful offseason.

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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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