Order in the Chaos; How The Yankees Recovered After The Departure of Star, Juan Soto

Juan Soto sent a message to the Yankees. After losing in the World Series, not only did he pack his bags and leave, he went across town to the Yankees local rivals, the New York Mets. The Yankees tanked their dreams of another World Series with an atrocious fifth inning in the fifth game of the series while down 3-1 in against the Dodgers across all games. After seeing the immediate impact Soto had made on the franchise, the Yankees offered him a long-term contract ($760 million dollars over 16 years, or 47.5 million a year). Soto declined, and signed with the Mets over free-agency. Disappointed on the departure, the Yankees GM - Brian Cashman - said, “You can't replace a Juan Soto. So how do you cushion the blow and diversify that throughout the lineup? And then the defense was a real problem on our roster. We had a bad defensive team. We have an opportunity to upgrade the defense at the same time, which will improve our run prevention and our pitching. So, getting more athletic, getting more protection on the defensive front while still trying to provide good, strong balance on the offensive side was, ultimately, the simple framework." Obviously already thinking about additions that would make up for the loss of the star right fielder, within 48 hours of the departure, Cashman extended a 8 year, $218 million offer to Max Fried, another powerful arm, who accepted graciously Willing to waste no more time, the Yankees had a lot to do this off-season. The next day, they re-signed relief pitcher, Jonathan Loaisiga, to a one season contract. The front office then discussed, and just 48 hours later traded Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Devin Williams. Williams is also a back-up pitcher, who is considered one of the best a team could want. Three days felt like forever as the Yankees looked for another addition before trading Jose Trevino for Alex Jackson, Cincinnati’s catcher, and another pitcher, Fernando Cruz. To close it off, the Yankees signed a veteran first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt. Even though nearly any franchise would be slapping themselves in the face after losing a player with the caliber of Juan Soto, losing Soto didn’t seem like a loss to the Yankees. In fact, they considered it an upgrade. "Some people may disagree with me, but some people will agree with me: I think we have a better team right now than we did a year ago today," said Yankees owner, Hal Steinbrenner. Even though the Yankees had many superstar players last season, there is no salary cap in the MLB. The Dodgers tied up over 1 billion dollars in contracts last season, which put them as the “Goliath” of the league. "It's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they're doing," Steinbrenner said. The absence of a salary cap is part of the reason the Yankees majorly improved their roster with countless all-stars/hall of famers. Even Yankee rivals were awe-struck at the impressive off-season. “It could be a blessing in the end. Fried is an ace. Bellinger might hit 30 HRs there and shores up their defense. Goldschmidt is a Hall of Famer. Added a bullpen arm. All in all, pretty good." The MLB officially starts in 55 days.