The New York Yankees lost Juan Soto to the New York Mets in free agency. Their deal was close to the 15-year, $765 million contract that ended up winning the sweepstakes. Reports surfaced in the following days that the Amazins offered him a suite for every home game, something that pushed them over the edge. Yankees GM Brian Cashman says that the lack of a suite in the Bronx was not why Juan Soto left.

“I don’t think a suite’s a possession arrow one way or the other,” the Yankees GM said, per Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post. “[Not] when you’re making that kind of money.”

“Some high-end players that make a lot of money for us, if they want suites, they buy them for their family or Legends seats or whatever,” Cashman continued. “Whether it’s CC [Sabathia], whether it’s Judge, whether it’s [Gerrit] Cole, whether it’s any of these guys.

The Yankees followed the rules they always have, according to Cashman. “This is what we did, and we’re going to honor those [policies]. So no regrets. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen. But if it was such a big deal, I would have heard from [agent] Scott Boras.”

Juan Soto did not pick the Yankees and whether that has anything to do with a suite or not may never be known. But Brian Cashman needs to pivot to Plan B to make sure the Bombers stay competitive.

Yankees must pivot from Juan Soto

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The Yankees signed Max Fried to a monster contract in the aftermath of the Soto decision. Making him the highest-paid left-handed pitcher in baseball history was enough, no suite was needed there. They did have to increase their offer to keep him away from the Texas Rangers for state income tax reasons.

Adding a new starting pitcher means the Yankees have a surplus in their rotation. Rumors are swirling that they could flip Rookie of the Year Luis Gil to the Astros for outfielder Kyle Tucker. He would fill one of their open outfielder roles with a power bat and great glove. Adding Fried would make that trade easier to swallow.

Brian Cashman needs to bring in multiple bats to improve this Yankees team. They lost four of their starters from the World Series in free agency and have not added any offense yet. Whether it is Christian Walker or Anthony Santander in free agency or Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker through trade, someone new will be in pinstripes.