No Soto for the Yanks. So, What’s Next?

The New York Yankees were disappointed in losing the Juan Soto sweepstakes. However, they are not defeated.

Soto’s tenure with the Yankees lasted only one season when he turned down their 16-year, $760-million offer in free agency. He instead signed with the New York Mets for 15 years and $765 million on Sunday, the largest contract in baseball history.

Soto made a major impact in his lone season with the Yankees, helping them reach the World Series for the first time since 2009, though they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Soto was third in the American League MVP voting as he hit .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 128 runs scored in 157 games after being acquired from the San Diego Padres in a trade.

The loss of Soto leaves a huge hole in the Yankees’ lineup that was third in the major leagues in runs scored with 5.03 a game last season. However, manager Aaron Boone believes the organization can regroup and put together a roster capable of returning to the World Series next year.

“Look, it’s not going to stop us from hopefully going to put together another great team,” Boone said earlier this week at the MLB Winter Meetings in Dallas. “There’s different ways of doing it. We don’t even know which way that is this winter. You don’t know how it's going to unfold, what free agents come into the mix, who you match up with, who you maybe match up with in a trade.

“That’s the fun part about now and trying to make good evaluations and good decisions ultimately to put us in a good spot moving forward. I don’t get caught up in what the social media is saying about it or whatever. The reality is Juan’s a great person and obviously a great player.

“It’s sports. It’s competition. Look forward to it all.”

Somewhat surprisingly, the Yankees’ first post-Soto move was to sign left-hander Max Fried to an eight-year, $218-million contract as a free agent. It is the largest contract ever for a lefty.

Fried gives the Yankees seven starting pitchers, joining a group that includes Gerrit Cole, AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt and lefties Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes. Multiple baseball executives told Draft Nation that the Yankees are willing to part with Stroman and Cortes in trades to bolster the offense.

The Yankees have two other holes to fill in their lineup beyond Soto after first baseman Anthony Rizzo and second baseman Gleyber Torres became free agents.

One possibility for the Yankees is to make a counterstrike against the Mets and sign first baseman Pete Alonso. He is a free agent after hitting 226 home runs for the Mets in his first six big-league seasons.

The Yankees are also interested in power-hitting outfielders Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Santander. Though the Yankees have been linked to Alex Bregman in free agency, with the idea of moving him to second base, a club source indicated their interest in the veteran third baseman is minimal.

On the trade front, the Yankees have inquired about Chicago Cubs first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger and St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, who is willing to move to first base.

Whoever the Yankees might add will be hard pressed to match Soto’s production. Boone is OK with that.

“There’s more than one way to build a team or skin a cat,” Boone said. “Maybe it allows you to be more defensive. Maybe it allows you to play in the pitching market more often. Again, it’s where you line up. It’s like there’s a lot of ways to become a great team. Last year we had an outstanding offense, obviously anchored by Juan and Aaron (Judge) hitting back-to-back. That's not the only way to be a great team, though. We’ll see. We’re going to try our best to and are confident that when we get to spring training, we’ll be in a position that we’ll be one of those teams that has a chance to go compete for it all.”