THE YANKEES ARE PLAYOFF BOUND, BUT SOTO RUMORS ARE STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT!

Playoff berth? YUP

AL East title? DONE, back where it belongs for the first time since 2012!

Home-field advantage through the Championship series of playoffs? CHECK!

Everything has fallen into place after a disastrous 2023 season, except that's not what I am seeing all over social media.

Is everyone excited about the postseason? You bet, especially after missing out last year. October baseball is coming, but that's not the buzz all over my notifications and social media feeds. Instead, it's all about Juan Soto, which isn't a total shock. He and Aaron Judge are the reason why we are where we are right now. But....there's speculation brewing about next season.

Brendan Kuty of the Athletic detailed HERE how a brief meeting with Hal Steinbrenner and Soto back in Spring Training left a positive impression on him. That alone is nothing to get too excited about but, this encounter was MONTHS ago, and he will have his pick of many interested teams this winter.....but he's still thinking about his brief interaction with Hal. Interesting. In recent history, most news with Hal hasn't been great. This one was positive and left Soto feeling like Hal cared about him and the team. It's just not something we hear a lot about.

Soto has enjoyed his time as a Yankee. He's thrived here in an environment that we've seen chew up and spit out many other ballplayers. He hasn't let the high pressure get to him. He's reminiscing already. "I think anybody would want to be in the history books for the Yankees," Soto said. "I've been trying all year to be part of it — at least even if it's for one year. I'm trying my best to be around those books with the World Series champions. But we'll see. We will see how it's going to be. At the end of the day, you never know if you're going to be there."

He's right, no one knows what the future holds even though SI.com continues to make predictions about what this winter looks like, read more HERE. It's what everyone has been talking about all season....where does Soto go this winter and for how much money? His contract is going to be insane, no doubt and Buster Olney thinks Soto won't be a Yankee, "And I do think in the end, the Yankees are going to be outbid by somebody. I can't see Hal going to nutty numbers and we don't know if (New York Mets owner) Steve Cohen is going to do like he does with some of his art and just blow the competition out of the water."

The Cohen connection is no surprise, we've talked about it for months and we know he wants to make a splash. Any owner right now would be thrilled to have deep enough pockets to snag Soto this winter, but the reality is all owners don't. But let's talk about the ultimate "WHAT IF" here. What if....the Yankees win the World Series this year? Would Hal be more inclined to throw him more money? Buster says Hal won't spend the money, but a championship could change his tune....right?

The Yankees are in the postseason, and that's great. But now, how far do the Yankees go? If they go all the way, Hal has to be willing to spend more for Soto, right? If not, he looks foolish. If Hal doesn't then not only will Cohen be in play, but I could see the Dodgers, or the Phillies make a move. Both are also playoff bound, and both have the appetites to win. Soto is a game changer for any team, especially a contender....it all comes down to which owner is willing to shell out the most cash.

The playoffs will tell us a lot....it's about to get really interesting in the Juan Soto sweepstakes and I hope Buster Olney is wrong.

 

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj