There is joy in Flushing where no one cares that Steve Cohen spent a record $765 million (so far) — and was prepared to go for more if the Yankees matched him — for one player in Juan Soto. And while Soto tried to tell us last Thursday it was not about the money but rather what teams wanted to do for the next 15 years, it was as former New York Giants GM George Young so famously put it all those years ago, it was always going to be about the money, and all the perks his family could cajole out of Cohen.
The Yankees finally realized that as the negotiations reached the nitty-gritty stage last Sunday night when they were already in far beyond their comfort zone at $700 million and were told by Soto’s agent Scott Boras they would have to pony up a $60 million signing bonus if they were to remain competitive with three other clubs in the bidding, the Mets, Red Sox and Blue Jays. Hal Steinbrenner gulped hard, talked it over with Yankee president Randy Levine and GM Brian Cashman and reluctantly agreed, only to be told that other clubs had also agreed to a provision that would allow them to void the opt-out after the fifth year in exchange for adding another $4 million per year salary to Soto for the remainder of the contract. Again, they reluctantly agreed but said they would have to add another year to the contract in order to keep the annual average value for them at $47.5 million.
Juan Soto at a press conference at Citi Field in Queens, New York City on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.
It was at this point when they were informed that Soto’s mother, Belkis Pacheco, who had become the driving force in the negotiations, insisted the Yankees throw in a suite at Yankee Stadium for the entire 15 years of the contract. That was when Hal Steinbrenner said something to the effect: “We’re gonna pay you $760 million and you can’t afford to pay for your own suite? We don’t give away suites (which range from $600,000 to $1 million) at Yankee Stadium,” — while adding that Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia all had suites at Yankee Stadium which they paid for themselves, as well as for premier seats in the Legends section behind home plate.
Cohen, on the other hand, had no problem with any added perks Soto and his family threw at him, and there were plenty. Besides a suite at Citi Field for 15 years, he also threw in 22 (for Soto’s number) Delta Club premium seats, security people for both him and his entire family home and away, and it is said, but not confirmed, the “family services” clause in the contract includes charter flights for his family to road games and a clothes allowance for his mother! Cohen probably doesn’t care but all these perks are included in the overall value of contract for luxury tax purposes and when it’s all said and done, Soto’s AAV will be more likely around $55 million not $51 million. I’m told Rob Manfred’s salary police are all over this contract.
So, yes, the deeper you dig into the contract the more obscene it gets as Cohen has essentially handed over his team to one player — a one dimensional player, by the way, who will most assuredly be a fulltime DH long before it’s even half over. As one former manager put it to me: “Carlos Mendoza’s job just got a whole lot harder as Aaron Boone’s got a whole lot easier.”
As for the Yankees, they are happily moving on from the unseemly Soto negotiation and in the end may be the better for it. No sooner did Cashman say “we’re not going to be spending money like drunken sailors,” they did just that, signing (soon-to-be) 31-year-old lefty Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract — even though he has missed considerable time in each of the past two seasons with forearm issues and has never pitched more than 185 innings in a season.
Was it a ridiculous stretch on their part? Of course it was, but Cashman is going for the “now” in an effort to make a return trip to the World Series, and the trade of Nestor Cortes and second base prospect Caleb Durbin for Brewers’ two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams now gives them potentially the deepest and most formidable bullpen in the AL.
Still, with the pitching shored up, Cashman has a whole lot more work to do, with holes at first base and third base and maybe center field. They are engaged with the Cubs, who are looking to dump Cody Bellinger’s contract, but they don’t see him as a $27 million-a-year player. Meanwhile, they’re waiting for the first base market to sort itself out as Pete Alonso and Christian Walker are both said to be presently seeking 5-6 year deals of over $100 million. Despite all the speculation about Alex Bregman for third base, he seems more suited for the Tigers or returning to the Astros.
IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
As it turned out, the team that had the highest runner-up offer for Juan Soto was actually the Blue Jays even though they had no chance to sign him from the get-go. As one Blue Jay insider told me: “Why in the world would anyone think Soto was going to sign with a last place team in another country?” So like the Yankees, the Blue Jays are looking to use a lot of that saved money elsewhere now. Vlad Guerrero is urging them to bring back Teoscar Hernandez and that’ll probably happen after the Dodgers signed Michael Conforto for their outfield, and they’ve also made a sizeable offer to Corbin Burnes, though he is said to be favoring the Giants. … Interesting that the Rays, who have a history of identifying pitching talent from other organizations, plucked two pitchers — lefty reliever Nate Lavender and righty Mike Vasil – from the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft at the winter meetings. Vasil, an eighth round draft pick out of Virginia in 2021, was once regarded as a top 10 prospect by the Mets but struggled in Triple-A the last two years. Lavender, however, never got much respect from the Mets, who never protected him from the Rule 5 Draft despite enormous success as a reliever after being drafted in the 14th round in 2021: His batting averages against in 2021-22-23 were .130, .193 and .196 and he had an overall 1.22 WHIP before being felled last spring with Tommy John surgery. His funky sidearm delivery which is almost impossible for the hitters to pick up, makes him just the sort of “find” the Rays have been famous for (See: Pete Fairbanks, Nick Anderson and J.P. Feyereisen).