2023-24 Yankees Off Season / Spring Training...

[Fly Rodder]

Here's a 463 ft laser beam off a high outside fastball:

Baseball Savant Videos

Juan Soto homers (19) on a fly ball to center field. Fernando Tatis Jr. scores. | BaseballSavant.com

baseballsavant.mlb.com

 

[jncuse]

Soto's stats the last 3 years:

2023 2023	Padres	162 162	568 568	97 97	156 156	109 109	132 132	129 129	.275 .275
2022 2022	Padres	52 52	182 182	31 31	43 43	16 16	44 44	34 34	.236 .236
2022 2022	Nationals	101 101	342 342	62 62	84 84	46 46	91 91	62 62	.246

They state good player, but not immense talent. What am I missing?

I can't believe in 2023, there are still some people that throw in batting Average in a chart but then ignore OBP.

 

[jncuse]

This is nothing like the Stanton deal. There is no financial obligation after this season and Soto is a much much better hitter than Stanton. Prime Stanton coming off of an MVP season had slightly more power than Soto, but not much. Soto is younger better and it's a one year rental. The Yankees gave up nothing, maybe a mid-rotation starter in King - at best. Thorpe might possibly could be a mid-rotation starter. He was a highly polished college pitcher without a ML fastball who dominated less experienced minor league hitters with his breaking stuff. He's got a long way to go before he's ML ready.

Professional baseball writers don't agree with you, so ...

MLB trade grades: Taking stock of the Yankees-Padres Juan Soto megadeal

How well did the Yankees and the Padres do in the Soto deal?

theathletic.com

Stanton's year before being traded was better than Soto's recent year. That being said Stanton also had more up and down's and less demonstrated value over his career in prior seasons than Soto (despite being older)

Miami probably got max value due to the timing of when they traded Stanton - and Padres arguably the opposite as Soto has had better years than 2023 and because of contract.

I think King can be more than a mid rotation starter (could be less as well) but he is also almost 29 when next season starts-- he almost took away the Jays playoff homes with how he did in his 2 starts against us. Sort of reminds me of a guy like Jeff Fassero who was a reliever with good stuff that hit it off as a starter once given the opportunity later in his career and was a good starter for about 5 or 6 years.. The issue with King is even if he pitches real well the next 2 years, then you are in the unenviable position of having to sign a long term contract to a pitcher who is hitting free agency for the first time at nearly 31 years old.

 

[jncuse]

From an outsider perspective.

The Yanks also have the greatest hitter in the world right now in Judge, one of the best pitchers in Gerritt Cole. But they are 32 and 33 -- you can't wait 2 or 3 years to try to develop or bring up youth around them -- at 35 or 36 its possible they are still elite, but a decline from this level is predictable. You give long term contracts to these type of players hoping to win when they are at their best early in the contracts.

The Yanks have to make moves to win now. And now you get another HOF track player. To me this is an easy "A" grade deal for the Yankees as didn't tale away any of their MLB ready prospects / players with the exception of Michael King. King could be a loss but there are FA pitchers on the market this year that should come close to replacing him assuming last year was not an anomaly for King. If the argument is that signing FA pitchers is risky (well it is yes), then there also plenty of risks from King as well.

Even the Verdugo deal - if you get a .770 OPS type year from him (his career norm) at $8 or $9M, that is decent value for a complimentary player.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[br801]

Is this real? It's hard to see what you're looking at, but he's top 23 all time in OPS+ (minimum 3,000 PAs) and 3rd among active players. And he's 25. He'd rank 2nd (160) on the Yankees in OPS+ over the last three years behind a guy named Aaron Judge (178).

He's one of the best hitters in the game. And he's a lefty.

He's a generational offensive talent. Not a good outfielder, but if they can play him in right field a little bit and not exclusively in left, it should be all good next season.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

"The Chosen Juan"

 

[Shawn91111]

From an outsider perspective.

The Yanks also have the greatest hitter in the world right now in Judge, one of the best pitchers in Gerritt Cole. But they are 32 and 33 -- you can't wait 2 or 3 years to try to develop or bring up youth around them -- at 35 or 36 its possible they are still elite, but a decline from this level is predictable. You give long term contracts to these type of players hoping to win when they are at their best early in the contracts.

The Yanks have to make moves to win now. And now you get another HOF track player. To me this is an easy "A" grade deal for the Yankees as didn't tale away any of their MLB ready prospects / players with the exception of Michael King. King could be a loss but there are FA pitchers on the market this year that should come close to replacing him assuming last year was not an anomaly for King. If the argument is that signing FA pitchers is risky (well it is yes), then there also plenty of risks from King as well.

Even the Verdugo deal - if you get a .770 OPS type year from him (his career norm) at $8 or $9M, that is decent value for a complimentary player.

Perfectly stated

 

[jncuse]

Perfectly stated

Don't get me wrong though. Not a Yanks fan, so I hope this blows up in their faces.
But it was the right move for them (at least evaluated at time of deal).

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Interested to see how Gold Glover Grisham fits in. And obviously they are not figuring Dominguez into plans for next season. Lots of quality in the outfield.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Interested to see how Gold Glover Grisham fits in. And obviously they are not figuring Dominguez into plans for next season. Lots of quality in the outfield.

Grisham is a late inning defensive replacement for CF until Dominguez returns and then the OF alignment will be shift around with Soto moving back to LF.

Speaking of Dominguez, from the Yankees Reddit, hopefully this works:

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Grisham is a late inning defensive replacement for CF until Dominguez returns and then the OF alignment will be shift around with Soto moving back to LF.

Speaking of Dominguez, from the Yankees Reddit, hopefully this works:

He's a little better than that, but yes, if he is still struggling at the plate that's his role. Plus, I believe he led the league in sacrifice hits, so he can bunt as well.

Interesting that Grisham, Soto and Verdugo are all lefties. Great time to get seats in RF.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OttoinGrotto]

These guys from the Dodgers any good?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

These guys from the Dodgers any good?

Meh.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[RoofBeam]

Size...It does seem to matter:

Yamamoto is listed at 5'10", 177 lbs. Are there any great pitchers in MLB who have sustained a career at that size? I think Maddux was 6'. Maybe Pedro Martinez was under 6'? I think Lincecum was slightly built and dominant for 3 or 4 years but then faded quickly....Anyway, I am definitely not trusting Cashman on this. It seems like a very big risk for $300 million or whatever it will cost to get him.

 

[br801]

Size...It does seem to matter:

Yamamoto is listed at 5'10", 177 lbs. Are there any great pitchers in MLB who have sustained a career at that size? I think Maddux was 6'. Maybe Pedro Martinez was under 6'? I think Lincecum was slightly built and dominant for 3 or 4 years but then faded quickly...Anyway, I am definitely not trusting Cashman on this. It seems like a very big risk for $300 million or whatever it will cost to get him.

Guidry, Ford, Hubbell off the top of my head. Ridiculous reason to not pursue this guy.

 

[donniesyracuse]

It seems like a very big risk for $300 million or whatever it will cost to get him.

What is the risk? Are you worried the Yankees will run out of money?

 

[RoofBeam]

What is the risk? Are you worried the Yankees will run out of money?

Aside from the fact that resources are not infinite, even for the Steinbrenners, the concern is that another large salary will be used as an excuse by Cashman for failing to make moves that address additional areas of need...or maybe just get used to being beaten by teams which have a quarter of the Yankees payroll?