Before he could even open his mouth, Juan Soto made quite the statement when he stepped to the podium for a press conference at the start of spring training.
The slugger, the centerpiece of the Yankees’ offseason, wore a shift that read, “The Generational Juan Soto.” While bold, it served as apt attire for a 25-year-old destined for generational wealth next winter.
Soto is bound to test free agency after the season, as Scott Boras clients typically do. The Yankees knew that when they sent a five-player, pitching-centric package to the Padres in December, but they determined the juice to be worth the squeeze after a disastrous 2023 campaign that could be partly blamed on an underachieving, injury-riddled offense.
“We understand that he’s a free agent at the end of this term,” Brian Cashman said after acquiring Soto. “We understand that it’s a possible short-term situation.”
Soto has maintained that he will let his agent handle his business. He just wants to focus on the field.
“I’m here to play baseball,” Soto said. “I’m focusing on playing this year and trying to win as much as we can and bring a championship to New York.”
Soto is already a World Series winner, on a Hall of Fame track and owns a .946 OPS for his six-year career. His left-handed swing will add needed balance to the Yankees’ lineup, even if his impending free agency prompts questions throughout the season.
Aaron Judge found himself in a similar position in 2022, when he hit a record-setting 62 home runs before free agency. Now he’s looking forward to forming a deadly one-two punch with Soto, if only for a year, after a torn toe ligament cost the captain two months of his 2023 season.
With Soto expected to bat second and Judge slotted into the three-hole, the two seem to be clicking so far.
“He’s a New York Yankee,” Judge said of his fellow outfielder. “His first year here, I want to make it a good one. I want this to be his best year. If he’s feeling right and he’s doing his thing, that’s only going to take us one step closer to a World Series. So whatever I can do to get Juan feeling like Juan, I’m gonna try to do it.”
While Soto and Judge will give pitchers fits, the Yankees are hoping to get significant contributions — and good health — from others. That group includes Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu, who are all looking to step up after uneven seasons.
Stanton only played in 101 games last year after a hamstring strain, the latest in a long line of lower body injuries, sidelined him early in the season. However, the designated hitter and part-time outfielder showed up to camp with a leaner body and tweaked swing, which have contributed to a healthy, productive spring.
He’s hoping the changes will allow him to stay on the field and rebound from the last two seasons, a stretch that saw him slash .202/.286/.442.
“Be a baseball player again,” Stanton said when asked what he wants to get out of the adjustments. “I just needed to be more mobile. A lot of setbacks kept me not moving the way I’d like to be.”
Then there’s Rizzo, who had his 2023 season derailed by post-concussion syndrome, which he played through for two months before getting diagnosed.
While head injuries can be tricky — something Cashman has cautioned — doctors told Rizzo not to worry about returning symptoms. The first baseman hasn’t had a checkup since November, and he’s enjoyed a quality spring at the plate as well.
“It’s been clear for quite some time,” Rizzo said of his head. “I feel great.”
LeMahieu, on the other hand, is already banged up.
He entered camp as the Yankees’ starting third baseman and Aaron Boone’s preferred leadoff hitter after an offseason that had the veteran looking “more explosive,” but LeMahieu spent the end of spring training recovering from a significant bone bruise after fouling a ball off his right foot. A toe injury to that same foot compromised LeMahieu in 2022, so the Yankees are being cautious.
It’s unclear if he will start the season on time.
Elsewhere on the injury front, the Yankees have shrugged off the ab issue that kept Judge out of the lineup for 10 days during the middle of camp. An MRI came back clean, and he, Boone and Cashman have insisted they were just being cautious. Still, it will be something to monitor as Judge takes over responsibilities in center field while also continuing maintenance on his toe.
Meanwhile, Soto is not the only new addition to the Yankees’ lineup. Nor is he the team’s only impending free agent.
Left fielder Alex Verdugo, acquired from the Red Sox, fits both categories, while second baseman Gleyber Torres is slated for the open market. Both could be flexible pieces in the Yankees’ lineup — each have the ability to hit first, among other slots — as they try to parlay successful 2024 seasons in paydays.
“I think anytime a guy is in a free agent or walk year, that’s one of those additional carrots that exist,” Boone said. “I think it can be a motivator. I think sometimes it can be a pressure, too, that probably goes the other way. It’s how you handle it. Hopefully, it is another one of those things that drives you in the right way to be uber prepared for what’s ahead.”
Maybe Anthony Volpe will become a candidate to leadoff as well.
The shortstop has the tools and the speed to do so, but he had an up and down rookie year at the plate. While Volpe joined the 20-20 club, he also hit .209 with a .283 on-base percentage, an 81 OPS+ and 167 strikeouts.
The sophomore admitted that it wasn’t a good offensive season, but Volpe altered his bat path over the winter. As a result, Volpe has looked more like the player that soared through the Yankees’ minor league ranks this spring.
“He deserves all the credit in the world for that,” new hitting coach James Rowson said. “I saw some video of him from last year and then I got a chance to see him when he was working out in the offseason, and he had already made great strides in correcting some of those things.”
While there have been some bumps and bruises since camp began — and more will surely follow — the Yankees have to like the upgrades they’ve made to a lineup that barely had a better on-base percentage than the Royals, A’s and White Sox last season. Soto alone is a massive addition, and the arrivals of Verdugo and fourth outfielder Trent Grisham, also acquired from San Diego, give the team more left-handed balance and depth.
The true question is whether this group can stay relatively healthy. If so, there’s a case to be made for the Yankees’ offense bouncing back in 2024, even if they’re still reliant on some aging hitters.
“I do feel like we’re better positioned and better equipped to deal with a guy going down here or a guy going down there,” Boone said at the start of spring training. “I do like our depth right now. I do like our balance right now. And my expectation is that we are an elite offense again. That’s what I expect. I think it’s a reasonable expectation with what we have. But we’ve got to go show you.”
