DALLAS — The New York Yankees wanted to bring Juan Soto back but the organization ultimately saw him depart for a historic 15-year, $765 million deal with the crosstown Mets.
“Ownership and the front office, I think, did everything we could to make it happen,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said during the winter meetings on Tuesday. “It just didn’t happen. But, as I told these guys yesterday, that’s sports.”
Soto’s departure is shocking in many ways. The Yankees made an aggressive push to bring him back and, given their storied history, they don’t lose players they want often.
It also leaves a massive hole in their lineup as Soto and Aaron Judge were one of the most dangerous duos in years. Soto batted .288 with 41 home runs and 109 RBIs last season.
It turned out to be his only season in pinstripes after the Yankees acquired him and Trent Grisham from the San Diego Padres for five players, knowing Soto would become an unrestricted free agent after one year.
“Ultimately, Juan earned the right to be in the position that he’s in, and he made a decision that he felt like was best,” Boone said. “We went into this eyes wide open. It was a year ago when we were sitting here, and I remember making the deal at the winter meetings. We knew there was no guarantees of anything moving forward. I think as much as it hurt to make the deal with some of the players that we lost, looking back, I feel like it was the right thing to do and served us well. He had an amazing season obviously with us.
“It kind of hurts in the moment, but when you live in the business and you live in the sport — again, it is sports, it doesn’t always go your way. It’s now an opportunity for us to — and our expectation is to still go out and build and put together a great team to go compete for a championship again next year. That doesn’t stop.”
