Cashman: Yankees to Put ‘Best Foot Forward’ with Juan Soto in 2024 MLB Free Agency

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman indicated Wednesday that he is prepared to make a strong play to retain superstar outfielder Juan Soto in free agency.

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), Soto acknowledged that while other options are available to him in free agency, he intends to do all he can in order to keep Soto in pinstripes:

“We certainly have an interest in retaining him and we’ll put our best foot forward there. That will either lead to us retaining him and signing him back or we’ll be forced to go to a different direction if we can’t. And if we can’t, there’s a lot of different players in this marketplace that can positively impact this roster in different ways. Clearly that pressure point’s not on us today, but it does exist in the marketplace every winter, so those are the tough decisions you have to make.”

The Yankees acquired Soto in a blockbuster trade with the San Diego Padres last offseason, and he went on to have arguably the best season of his career, leading the Yanks to a World Series appearance.

In his only season with the Yankees to date, Soto slashed .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs, 109 RBI and 128 runs scored. He also hit .327 with four homers and nine RBI in 14 playoff games.

Soto is likely to finish third in the American League MVP voting behind teammate Aaron Judge and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., and he is likely to take home a Silver Slugger Award as well.

The benchmark for MLB contracts currently is the 10-year, $700 million deal Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.

While it may be difficult for Soto to reach that number since the Dodgers signed Ohtani based on both his hitting and pitching, Soto just recently turned 26 years old, so his age could work in his favor.

The Yankees showed a willingness to pay up in order to keep a superstar last offseason, re-signing Judge on a nine-year, $360 million contract.

They already let several other notable players hit free agency, including Gleyber Torres, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo, which suggests the Yankees may be building up a war chest of funds to use on a new Soto deal.

Cashman has been in talks with Scott Boras, who is not only Soto’s agent, but also that of first baseman Pete Alonso, who Cashman admitted to discussing.

Alonso would undoubtedly be the top backup plan available in free agency if the Yankees can’t re-sign Soto, as the former New York Mets slugger has crushed 226 home runs in six MLB seasons, including 34 in 2024.

While Alonso would provide Judge with some solid protection in the Yankees’ lineup, the combination of Judge and Soto was arguably the best one-two punch in baseball this past season.

Aside from money and the opportunity to win, Judge’s presence could conceivably be the biggest draw for Soto to remain with the Yanks.

It is likely that only a limited amount of teams can afford to pay Soto the type of compensation he is looking for and deserves, and even fewer can provide him with protection the level of Judge, who has hit a combined 157 home runs over the past three seasons.

There is little doubt that re-signing Soto is the Yankees’ best path to success in 2025 and beyond, and Cashman appears ready to make a big run at keeping the Soto-Judge duo together.