Yankees horrific decision proves just how much they’ll miss Juan Soto

The New York Yankees signed Paul Goldschmidt on Saturday despite passing on players like Christian Walker, who might have made a bigger impact in the lineup. The Yankees lost Juan Soto, a Hall of Famer whose bat is difficult to replace.

Soto has signed a 16-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, their crosstown rivals. The Yankees came just short of Steve Cohen’s primary goal of bringing Soto into the center of the Mets’ lineup. For the Yankees, the next stage is to reconstruct the lineup without one of their studs. This is easier said than done.

Yankees lineup after losing Juan Soto is coming together, and it’s not great

New York’s initial post-Soto roster moves were the pitching staff, as they signed Max Fried and traded for Devin Williams. Further deals for Cody Bellinger and the recent addition of Goldschmidt have shown what a lineup might look like without Soto, and that is not what Yankees fans have grown accustomed to in 2024.
Yankees supporters’ initial reaction to this image was dismay. Surely, the starting nine should look better than this, right? While it’s important to remember that the offseason is far from done, and the Yankees may yet have some winter magic left in them, replacing Soto by committee will never look as good as putting him in the lineup every day. That is now how you lose a superstar.

Is Goldschmidt batting cleanup? Really? Yes, truly.

 

 

While the Yankees might arrange the lineup in a variety of ways, the overall outcome would be similar. Goldschmidt should not be batting cleanup against a World Series contender. As of this writing, the Yankees still have some work to do before they are firmly classified in that category coming into spring training.

Anthony Volpe bats leadoff again, which is a bit risky. I could suggest batting Aaron Judge second. Bellinger may also bat cleanup on certain days, pushing Goldschmidt down the lineup. Jasson Dominguez or Giancarlo Stanton might have breakout seasons, rendering this experiment useless. We’ve got no idea.

Without Soto, the Yankees are running low on’sure things’ at the top of their lineup. That is a terrifying place to be if you are the New York Yankees.