The New York Yankees have pivoted to life after Juan Soto, focusing on run prevention by improving the pitching staff.
Adding Max Fried to the starting rotation on a $218 million deal and then trading for All-Star closer Devin Williams has changed the identity of the Yankees going into the 2025 season, but they still need to score runs.
No single player can fill the void Soto left in the Yankees lineup, but they can get close in the aggregate. One option could be to sign a switch-hitting slugger who has spent his entire career with a division rival.
In some fresh free agency predictions from Erik Beaston of Bleacher Report, the Yankees land former Baltimore Orioles slugger Anthony Santander.
“Adding Santander makes almost too much sense. The 30-year-old would fill a void left by Soto and is a better defender than the high-priced free agent. He also hit more home runs than his more famous peer. Both were All-Stars, both were Silver Sluggers,” Beaston wrote. “Soto is the better overall player thanks to his generational hitting ability, but there are far worse options than a switch-hitter who can blast 40-plus home runs and knows the team’s primary division foe (Baltimore), for whom he played his entire career.”
It has been reported that the Yankees have interest in Santander as a possible backup plan after missing out on Soto.
Santander seems like a perfect fit for the Yankees coming off a career-high 44 home runs in 2024. On top of that, the veteran would be an upgrade defensively over Soto and while his defensive metrics aren’t stellar (-2 OAA), playing in Yankee Stadium’s right field should help a bit.
Some projections have Santander hitting the $100 million mark on his next contract while Spotrac ($88 million) and MLB Trade Rumors ($80 million) are slightly below.
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