St. Louis Cardinals v San Francisco Giants / Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/GettyImages

While many of the New York Yankees’ Plan Bs for Juan Soto feel woefully incomplete (Pete Alonso, meet pressure cooker), the bottom line is that they have to supplement certain areas, regardless of Soto’s return.

They need starting pitching; someone new has to challenge Carlos Rodón for the No. 2 role. They need both a first baseman and a natural third baseman. They need outfield depth to replace Trent Grisham at a discount. A closer or two would be nice. It won’t be easy, especially since Hal Steinbrenner seems convinced he can win with a payroll below $300 million, $76 million of which is already occupied by Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole.

Still, the least we can ask for is a series of check-ins with prominent names while the dust is still floating. The Yankees appear to be aligned with that, flitting into nearly everyone’s market through the offseason’s first week.

According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees will be involved on Max Fried, Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell. In addition to New York, Heyman mentions a very similar group of teams courting all three players, to some extent. The Mets may have made Burnes their No. 1 priority, and the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Giants have all stuck around in the pitching market as well.

Yankees Rumors: NYY has checked in on Max Fried, Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell

Look on the bright side. While “checking in” means absolutely nothing about their pursuit being set in stone, at least they’re not the Cubs; Chicago’s big-market team has already ruled out pursuits of both Burnes and Soto.

In addition to flirting with the league’s top available pitchers, the Yankees have purportedly planned to “aggressively pursue” Christian Walker, the Diamondbacks’ 34-year-old first baseman with a 2024 Gold Glove and an .803 OPS last season.

Walker is aging out of his prime, in all likelihood, which means that although he’ll command a hefty cost, the Yankees won’t need to commit more than three years of length here. If they’re commanded to, they should make their pursuit a little bit less aggressive.

Ideally, Walker would function the way Rizzo was supposed to in New York, representing a genuine steady glove (though he’s a right-handed hitter). The peripherals also seem to indicate that regression isn’t right behind Walker, though you never know these days. Putting on the pinstripes seems to prematurely age us all.

Expect the Yankees to splash around mostly in the relief pool and trade market for the time being, but clearly they aren’t in the business of ruling out any potential fits.