It Was Fun While It Lasted: The Official 2024 New York Yankees Off-Season Thread

[tremonthustler1]

Unless I missed the memo we just lost the WS with Soto. Resigning Soto for what he just left for, this regime wasn’t going to go out and get more pieces. Don’t know what the answer is going to be, but there is still some moves to be made.

then you're screwed either way, so why make those moves if it's gonna end the same way?

When the next big name comes up, I don't wanna hear Hal and Cashman go "but we signed Santander to $25 mil a year, why y'all so mad?"


I know Yankees fans aren't gonna boo young homegrown guys, so put them out there and let us have a reason to go out to the park. Beats fighting it out with the Orioles gassed up thinking we can beat whoever comes out of the NL.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Turn your pages to 1993.
*****'s is getting smoked, G.
Believe me.

I see this shyt year round in every sport to some degree too so it’s easy to recognize.

The ravens have been needing to fire John Harbaugh for 14 years now and every year they don’t he bites them in the ass and plays a direct role in their missing the playoffs or being knocked out by a team they have no business losing to. It’s cost them a Super Bowl on at least 2-3 occasions and now they let yet another bright young coach leave to take the head coaching job in Seattle while 17 years in they have the same mental and fundamental issues they’ve had since 2008.

The Heat have been stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity since July of 2010 because they won’t blow it up and commit to a full rebuild even if it means a few 60 loss seasons in a row so they end up with a bunch of guys who might be able to be the 2 or 3 scorer on a contender all being asked to be the top scorer while also not having a legit #1 floor general. As a result they’re clearly never good enough to win it all but not bad enough to get a top pick to build around.


Then the islanders just never make any good moves and are never good at all or even relevant enough to talk about

You see it.

and if they sign someone on the cheap (like Thairo Estrada) and he pans out? Awesome. If Durbin comes up and he pans out? Great. But people gotta stop tryna pretend the Santanders and Alonsos are just Soto but cheaper. No matter how many pitchers we sign, Carlos Rodon is still part of the rotation fresh off the best year he's ever gonna give us.


But I NEVER wanna hear the Yankees bytch about money anymore. An easy way to avoid that is to not be in a rush to spend stupid money.

No move they make in the next year or two can replace a hitter of his talents and they don’t have any young talent I feel good about. Wells was a disaster down the stretch, Dominguez was glued to the bench in favor of one of the 3 worst hitters in all of baseball who was only ever a rental player and has already had Tommy John surgery once, Gil has missed a ton of time with elbow injuries already and no team ruins pitching prospects as badly as the Yankees do, and then Volpe was arguably the worst hitter in baseball the last 3 months of the season too after an awful rookie year. A smart GM at this point would pivot to dumping every big contract he has and preparing to develop a new young core.



Then again if we had a smart GM, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Trea Turner/Carlos Correa, Matt Olson, and Luis Castillo would be here on top of Jordan Montgomery likely never being traded away either and we wouldn’t be talking about the need to engage in a 76ers style tank job just to put the next core who isn’t even here yet in position to succeed

 

[Awesome Wells]

A lot of people don’t understand baseball.

The Yankees are still the f*cking Yankees. We had Soto just a couple of months ago and looked like sh*t in the WS. Since '87, the Mets have had a ridiculous amount of talent and stacked teams and ain't won sh*t. They have bread now, but they still have trash management. So they're not taking any shine away from the Bronx until they actually do something with what they have. They overpaid for dude, and then signed-off on a quick "no deferred money" agreement in his deal. So he's an idiot and just out for self. Which we knew already.

The Mets lost a lot of flexibility betting that big on Soto. The Yankees will be just fine and able to bring in some big bats who can actually field better and run the bases better than Soto. So all of this was expected, and now they can target some new blood for the Bronx and be done with the Soto nonsense.

 

[AJtheOne]

 

[tremonthustler1]

A lot of people don’t understand baseball.

The Yankees are still the f*cking Yankees. We had Soto just a couple of months ago and looked like sh*t in the WS. Since '87, the Mets have had a ridiculous amount of talent and stacked teams and ain't won sh*t. They have bread now, but they still have trash management. So they're not taking any shine away from the Bronx until they actually do something with what they have. They overpaid for dude, and then signed-off on a quick "no deferred money" agreement in his deal. So he's an idiot and just out for self. Which we knew already.

The Mets lost a lot of flexibility betting that big on Soto. The Yankees will be just fine and able to bring in some big bats who can actually field better and run the bases better than Soto. So all of this was expected, and now they can target some new blood for the Bronx and be done with the Soto nonsense.

What flexibility? They're gonna wind up going after Vlad Jr in a year or so.

The Yankees ain't the Yankees anymore. Hal doesn't even wanna run the Yankees. He just wants to sell the history.

the idea that there's this BETTER option available is fully ignoring why Soto was so highly pursued. Players like Soto don't grow on trees.

 

[Awesome Wells]

What flexibility? They're gonna wind up going after Vlad Jr in a year or so.

The Yankees ain't the Yankees anymore. Hal doesn't even wanna run the Yankees. He just wants to sell the history.

the idea that there's this BETTER option available is fully ignoring why Soto was so highly pursued. Players like Soto don't grow on trees.

The Yankees are still the big ticket in NYC, was my point. The Mets could get whoever, and none of that is gonna change anything until they actually build something out there. They've had all the big names in world for the past 37 years, and did nothing with any of it. I still chop it up with Matt Harvey all the time. And he always tells me that no matter who they get in Queens, the Mets aren't gonna know what to do with them. And we've seen that forever.

In baseball, it's not about finding a "better" option against what left. It's about finding what's best for you in that moment. That's how rings are won in MLB. Not by stacking your team with who we think we will be future hall of famers. Everyone doesn't work the same in every system.

 

[The Fukin Prophecy]

I don't blame him, man chose the money...

I would of done the same, soon as I heard Boone is coming back I was with this shyt...

 

[tremonthustler1]

The Yankees are still the big ticket in NYC, was my point. The Mets could get whoever, and none of that is gonna change anything until they actually build something out there. They've had all the big names in world for the past 37 years, and did nothing with any of it. I still chop it up with Matt Harvey all the time. And he always tells me that no matter who they get in Queens, the Mets aren't gonna know what to do with them. And we've seen that forever.

In baseball, it's not about finding a "better" option against what left. It's about finding what's best for you in that moment. That's how rings are won in MLB. Not by stacking your team with who we think we will be future hall of famers. Everyone doesn't work the same in every system.

It's different now. Cohen doesn't give a fukk about money. Hal on the other hand starts crunching numbers for anyone on the team. It's not the same Mets we saw when the Wilpons were there. They have a new lease on life.


for every you said in the bolded, Soto worked for us. He fit like a glove. Now he's gone and we're gonna lie to ourselves and think Arenado can fit the same way, Bregman, Fried, Alonso, Santander Robert, you name it. Truth is, we've seen a lot of names get passed up by the Yankees over the years over money primarily, names that made sense.

So, does this guarantee the Mets win a World Series? Maybe, maybe not. What it does for us is created an asteroid-sized hole in the lineup that in the regular season you might be able to piecemeal, but in the playoffs if we get there, will show tremendously, especially when our captain is a liability in big moments. So in the short term, Judge will still wow the crowd and hit moon shots and return to the Judge's Chambers, but in light of his postseason history and the lack of similar talent around him, he can win three more MVP's and nobody is gonna care because the Mets are gonna be the more compelling watch.

 

[BK360NATL]

I guess I'm bugging, but didn't Hal actually bid up to $760M and still got outbid for one player? And people are tripping that we actually got outbid??? That alone is wild. While I don't have much faith in Hal, Cashman nor Boone, I don't blame them one bit for not matching that. That number is beyond wild style. We'll definitely miss Soto in our lineup, but I'm glad we let someone else pick up the tab.

Now IF Hal is serious about spending, let's see if he uses that money to make the team better around, while getting rid of dead weight (Rizzo, DJM, Verdugo, etc). Gleyber won't be back. So, we need a LF, CF, 1B, 2B or 3B, and bonafide closer. Max Fried would be a start as well to solidify the rotation.

Now....since we've suddenly apparently become the Marlins or Pirates to some here.....AL East, our primary competition will be Baltimore. Tampa, Toronto and Boston aren't better than us. Detroit, Cleveland, KC and Houston in the rest of the AL.

I think we'll be okay, but I agree that we need to shore up the team.

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

The Yankees are still the big ticket in NYC, was my point. The Mets could get whoever, and none of that is gonna change anything until they actually build something out there. They've had all the big names in world for the past 37 years, and did nothing with any of it. I still chop it up with Matt Harvey all the time. And he always tells me that no matter who they get in Queens, the Mets aren't gonna know what to do with them. And we've seen that forever.

In baseball, it's not about finding a "better" option against what left. It's about finding what's best for you. That's how rings are won in MLB. Not by stacking your team with who we think we will be future hall of famers. Everyone doesn't work the same in every system.

Soto was a perfect fit and their shot at redemption after Harper and Machado got left on read in favor of Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier, and Giovanni Urshela (hicks will be on the payroll for 2025 still by the way). He was their last chance to salvage a title out of the Judge Era. That’s the issue. Judge covers up so many flaws on this team but by the time someone comes along if they manage to get another guy (and that’s a huge if considering that Gerrit Cole is the only genuine star free agent they’ve landed in the last 15 years), judge and Cole will be washed up and you won’t be able to count on them anymore.

They aren’t the big ticket anymore either. In the past 12 years they’ve missed the playoffs more than they’ve won their division despite sharing it with 2 teams who don’t even care about winning at all and another who barely cares anymore. 1 title in the past 24 years and counting while refusing to fire a GM who won’t sign star free agents in their prime who want to be here and who can’t develop young players either. Their way doesn’t win rings.

It's different now. Cohen doesn't give a fukk about money. Hal on the other hand starts crunching numbers for anyone on the team. It's not the same Mets we saw when the Wilpons were there. They have a new lease on life.


for every you said in the bolded, Soto worked for us. He fit like a glove. Now he's gone and we're gonna lie to ourselves and think Arenado can fit the same way, Bregman, Fried, Alonso, Santander Robert, you name it. Truth is, we've seen a lot of names get passed up by the Yankees over the years over money primarily, names that made sense.

So, does this guarantee the Mets win a World Series? Maybe, maybe not. What it does for us is created an asteroid-sized hole in the lineup that in the regular season you might be able to piecemeal, but in the playoffs if we get there, will show tremendously, especially when our captain is a liability in big moments. So in the short term, Judge will still wow the crowd and hit moon shots and return to the Judge's Chambers, but in light of his postseason history and the lack of similar talent around him, he can win three more MVP's and nobody is gonna care because the Mets are gonna be the more compelling watch.

Not to mention losing stars and regularly passing on stars does unimaginable damage to the Yankee brand. The more guys they pass on and the more guys they lose, the more guys will sign elsewhere. They pass on Harper and he wins the mvp and leads the Phillies to the World Series. They pass on Freddie freeman and he’s named World Series mvp against them. They pass on Cliff Lee, Gerrit Cole, and Justin Verlander only to be knocked out in the playoffs by them over and over and over again. That sort of shyt ruins the image of a franchise. Letting your star second baseman go only to replace him with a brittle outfielder with a noodle arm and two washed up hitters when you’re not even in position to contend? 20 years ago would anyone have ever considered leaving the Yankees for the Mets? You think years ago Steinbrenner would’ve even let that guy get to free agency? Remember 2007 when Hank cut off Cashman and said straight up they’d pay Alex Rodriguez what he’s worth to make sure they don’t lose him? If that happened today he’d be signed elsewhere now and we’d be looking at a 24 year title drought.

 

[Awesome Wells]

It's different now. Cohen doesn't give a fukk about money. Hal on the other hand starts crunching numbers for anyone on the team. It's not the same Mets we saw when the Wilpons were there. They have a new lease on life.


for every you said in the bolded, Soto worked for us. He fit like a glove. Now he's gone and we're gonna lie to ourselves and think Arenado can fit the same way, Bregman, Fried, Alonso, Santander Robert, you name it. Truth is, we've seen a lot of names get passed up by the Yankees over the years over money primarily, names that made sense.

So, does this guarantee the Mets win a World Series? Maybe, maybe not. What it does for us is created an asteroid-sized hole in the lineup that in the regular season you might be able to piecemeal, but in the playoffs if we get there, will show tremendously, especially when our captain is a liability in big moments. So in the short term, Judge will still wow the crowd and hit moon shots and return to the Judge's Chambers, but in light of his postseason history and the lack of similar talent around him, he can win three more MVP's and nobody is gonna care because the Mets are gonna be the more compelling watch.

Right. Cohen doesn't care about spending. We know that. But we also know, you can't throw money at your problems to fix them, in MLB. How many franchises, including the Yankees, have tried and failed with that for years?

I'm a diehard Yankee fan, so it's like Jeter says, if there's no ring at the end of the season, then that season was a failure. So I look at last season, and every season after '09, as the same. We ended up in the exact same spot with Soto, as we did without him. If we won, I don’t think Soto is going to Queens. I also think if we won, the Yankees would've done everything they could to keep him. They didn't do that. So that tells me, they have other plans that they believe will actually get this team further than just getting to the Series.

I agree on what you said about the postseason component. But that's been the story for years, for the Yankees. Even if we never got Soto last season, that's something they're gonna have to figure out either way. I think Judge has to know what his role is moving forward and I know he's seen what everyone is saying about that ridiculous outing in the postseason just now, but the team as a whole is always going to be able to bring in great talent that might not be as great as Soto will be, but will work for where the Yankees are and are trying to go. It's a collective thing. One dude has never moved the needle in the Bronx.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Soto was a perfect fit and their shot at redemption after Harper and Machado got left on read in favor of Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier, and Giovanni Urshela (hicks will be on the payroll for 2025 still by the way). He was their last chance to salvage a title out of the Judge Era. That’s the issue. Judge covers up so many flaws on this team but by the time someone comes along if they manage to get another guy (and that’s a huge if considering that Gerrit Cole is the only genuine star free agent they’ve landed in the last 15 years), judge and Cole will be washed up and you won’t be able to count on them anymore.

They aren’t the big ticket anymore either. In the past 12 years they’ve missed the playoffs more than they’ve won their division despite sharing it with 2 teams who don’t even care about winning at all and another who barely cares anymore. 1 title in the past 24 years and counting while refusing to fire a GM who won’t sign star free agents in their prime who want to be here and who can’t develop young players either. Their way doesn’t win rings.

That's a hypothetical thing. They definitely f*cked up with the Hicks move, but I don’t think passing up on Manny and Harper changes anything for last season. I'm still not sure they would've worked in the Bronx, the way Soto did.

The team does have a lot of flaws, but again, that's baseball. You adjust from season to season. That's what management is for. I think last season was a lesson for them, and they could clearly see where those deficiencies were and what changes needed to be made. Cashman wasn't shy about pointing out what those were, and Boone knew too. So you move on, and bring in some players that fit with where those opportunities have been for mad seasons. What we saw last season (with Soto on the team) was the same bullsh*t that needed fixing before he got here.

Point is, even when they're terrible, they're still a bigger draw than the Mets. It's always been that way. At least after the late 80's. And even with Soto gone, I think they'll put together what they need to, to fix all of the problems we saw last year and get a core unit that can get the franchise back to playing actual Yankee baseball. If not, I think we're talking Boone's last stand and a lot of other exits too. But from what Cashman and the brass have been saying, they had plans in place just in case Soto dipped. I think we'll be just fine.

 

[BK360NATL]

What flexibility? They're gonna wind up going after Vlad Jr in a year or so.

The Yankees ain't the Yankees anymore. Hal doesn't even wanna run the Yankees. He just wants to sell the history.

the idea that there's this BETTER option available is fully ignoring why Soto was so highly pursued. Players like Soto don't grow on trees.

In NYC, no matter what the Mets, Nets, Jets, Islanders or Devils do, the Yankees will ALWAYS be the Yankees, the Knicks will be the Knicks, the Giants will be the Giants, and the Rangers will be the Rangers. It is what it is. These are the alpha teams in NY and that won't ever change. Juan Soto & Clay Holmes switching teams won't change that.

The NY Yankees brand remains one of the most profitable in pro sports globally, even if the on-field results haven't produced a WS title since 2009. We'll be okay. I just wish that we go full-on Evil Empire now.

 

[Awesome Wells]

In NYC, no matter what the Mets, Nets, Jets, Islanders or Devils do, the Yankees will ALWAYS be the Yankees, the Knicks will be the Knicks, the Giants will be the Giants, and the Rangers will be the Rangers. It is what it is. These are the alpha teams in NY and that won't ever change. Juan Soto & Clay Holmes switching teams won't change that.

The NY Yankees brand remains one of the most profitable in pro sports globally, even if the on-field results haven't produced a WS title since 2009. We'll be okay. I just wish that we go full-on Evil Empire now.

Facts. All this right here.

Back when Boggs became a free-agent in like '92, he had mad teams throwing money at him and pursuing him. The Yankees hadn't won sh*t in damn near 20 years. He could've gone anywhere. When he signed, he said even though he knew the Yankees had been struggling forever, he just wanted to be a Yankee at some point in his career. Dude was coming from Boston and said his dream was to play in the Bronx. That's how it's always been for these players. It's an honor to rock those pinstripes.

They'll always be the spot where people want to land. So we don’t have to worry about who leaves, theres's always a lot more talent ready to come throw on that uniform. Even when we're not at our best.

 

[Doctor Wily]

Mets will own the next generation of young players coming out of the Dominican Republic for sure now.


Damn shame but truth is these Yankees are not the same Yankees that most of us grew up with.

The 90s are ancient history and 2009 is a generation ago.