Possible Yankee Free Agent Signings Post Juan Soto

By Jackson Koslow

Disaster has struck for the New York Yankees. Star player Juan Soto has agreed to a 15 year, 765 million dollar deal with crosstown rivals New York Mets. Soto, the top free agent in all of baseball, was the Yankee’s priority signing of the offseason. Now, with Soto off the table, the Yankees need to turn their attention elsewhere. With many needs around the diamond, the Yankees have many holes to fill, and this may be the offseason to do just that. In this article, we will lay out three possibilities for the Yankees to sign, going from most likely to least likely.

1. Christian Walker

• The Yankees have a gaping hole at First Base following the likely departure of long time veteran Anthony Rizzo. One possible solution is prospect Ben Rice who played the position at times this past season, yet didn’t seem to be the missing piece the Yankees needed. Walker presents a fantastic solution for the Yankees who need a star first basemen now, not for the future. Walker, 33 years old, has played for the Arizona Diamondbacks throughout his career and is now a free agent. Hitting .250 on his career along with exceptional power and fielding, he helps plug the whole the Yankees have perfectly. Signing Walker will also not break the bank for the Yankees, as he is projected to command around $20 million a year from whatever team decides to sign him. That would place him around top 7 in terms of first basemen the league, right around where his playing level is. Signing Walker makes sense for the Yankees economically, it plugs a hole, and allows for flexibility in the future.

2. Teoscar Hernández

• Hernández will be familiar to the Yankees, as he just played this last season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Yankees in the World Series. Hernández would be a fantastic signing for the Yankees, who have a clear hole in the outfield. Currently, the outfield projects to be Judge, Dominguez, and Trent Grisham. Signing one more outfielder would allow Jasson Dominguez, the Yankees’ top prospect, to have valuable playing time while also bringing in an elite player. This last season, Hernández had a 137 OPS+, hitting and fielding on an elite level. Outside of Soto, Hernández is the most complete outfield free agent on the market, and the Yankees would be foolish to not bring out the checks and pay Hernández the $96 million he is projected to receive.

3. Max Fried

• There is no such thing as too much pitching right? Max Fried is an elite left handed starter who can finally give the Yankees the star pitcher they were looking for behind Gerrit Cole. For the Atlanta Braves last season Fried pitched to a 3.25 ERA with 166 strikeouts, while also being the fourth best pitcher in the entire league over the last 5 years in terms of WAR. While not being the Yankees’ greatest need, elite starting pitching is always at a premium, and that was evident in the Yankees playoff run from last season. Signing Fried allows for a top tier rotation to enter into the arguments for the league’s best, and helps bring the Yankee pitching staff into stardom.

No matter who the Yankees go and sign in the coming months, this offseason will always be viewed as a failure. Losing Soto to an in-city rival is devastating, yet not all hope is lost for the Yankees. Other signings can help salvage this offseason for the team from the Bronx, allowing them to stay competitive, and hopefully challenge again for a World Series in the coming future.