Simply…what?

Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees / New York Yankees/GettyImages

If the New York Yankees get outbid for Juan Soto by Steve Cohen’s mega-billions, it will represent a changing of the guard in Major League Baseball, but it’ll also be a semi-expected outcome. They’ll have to take that on the chin.

If the Yankees somehow finish out of the top two for Soto and recede into the background, referenced only as a fun time the slugger once had? That’ll be a full-on embarrassment.

While there are creative ways to spend $600 million and improve the Yankees’ roster, the easiest way to do it — and the one that requires the least amount of intervention from Brian Cashman — is simply signing Soto. The Yankees, rumored to be interested in topping the Mets based on annual value but not lump sum, might want to pivot quickly, unless they want to get left behind by not one, but two clubs.

According to MLB insider Jon Heyman’s current pulse, it’s the Mets leading the pack right now, followed by the Blue Jays. That could change any day, he claims, but it’s still not where you want to be if you want to be taken seriously.

MLB insider Jon Heyman predicts Mets, Blue Jays lead Yankees in Juan Soto chase

The most shovel-across-the-face portion of this segment for sure, even more than the teams mentioned, is the way Heyman refers to Soto’s time with the Yankees. Most Bronx Bombers fans, while aware that his one year in pinstripes won’t result in a hometown discount, entered this process believing that pairing up with Aaron Judge and winning the American League mattered. It stood to reason that putting on the iconic uniform and succeeding on the biggest stage would be tempting to continue.

And maybe it was! But here’s Heyman on Soto’s Yankees tenure:

“He was in New York for a year. He’s a free agent now. He did love Aaron Judge. He did love the clubhouse. He loved many things about the Yankees, and maybe he will go back. But right now I’m putting them no better than No. 3 at this moment. We shall see.”

Neat.

Either it’s been an open secret that he was never coming back to begin with, unchanged by any portion of 2024, or this remains a leverage play. Yankees fans had better hope it’s the latter.