In 1998, when he was in charge of a special team, Brian Cashman correctly took a risk at the trade deadline that he could win a championship without giving Seattle what it wanted for Randy Johnson. Cashman is now in a similar situation with the Nationals and Juan Soto, only this time the decision is more difficult.
In his quarter-century on the job, Cashman has seen it all. He’s well-qualified to determine whether a prospects-plus package led by Anthony Volpe is a fair price to pay for Soto. But, if the GM does reach a temporary agreement with his Washington counterpart, Mike Rizzo, I believe we will learn more about Hal Steinbrenner.
As of now, how badly the Yankees’ owner wants to win.
Of course, everyone wanted to win. However, there is a significant difference between saying you want to win and acting as if you need to win. Steinbrenner’s decision on whether to approve a Soto acquisition and the potential half-billion dollar contract that will come after 2024 — on top of a possible big contract for Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, and Giancarlo Stanton — will reveal which camp he belongs to.
Employing the 23-year-old Soto for 3 postseason runs would be worth anything that Rizzo could ask for.
Soto, at Volpe’s age, has already delivered a 34-homer, 110-RBI season in the big leagues, as well as a three-homer, seven-RBI performance in a World Series victory. Soto only needs to hit 4 more balls over the fence to have more home runs before his 24th birthday than another slugger who burst onto the scene at the age of 19. Mickey Mantle was a youngster.
Soto’s right-field porch in The Bronx would be something. He also walks more than anyone in baseball, giving him a higher career on-base percentage (.427) than either Mickey Mantle or Mike Trout.
Though Hal Steinbrenner is no Steve Cohen, and just Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates, the family-run Yankees are still worth closer to $7 billion, according to Forbes.
In the spring, Steinbrenner stated that the goal is always to win a championship.
If that’s the goal, landing Soto at the start of his prime is a slam dunk. Soto isn’t Kevin Durant. However, he is good enough to become a franchise player.
In the end, as unfair as it may be to compare Steinbrenner to his father, a flawed man, and leader, there is no doubt what George Steinbrenner would do in this situation. He would add Soto to Judge as he did Alex Rodriguez to Jeter.
Hal Steinbrenner may soon have the opportunity to pick up a very large check, or two, and whether he does or does not will tell us a lot about him.
What do you think, leave a comment below?
