THE LATEST JUAN SOTO RUMORS ARE NOT GOOD FOR THE YANKEES!

In all of my Yankee watching years I have always said "Never count the Red Sox out" and that appears to be true now more than ever. It's been a while since they were a bit "threat" to the Yankees but....here we are Yankee family. It could be true.

We have been talking about a Mets vs Yankees showdown for Juan Soto, but that might not be the case. Boston could be a real threat to sign him and disappoint both New York teams. There's always that one mystery team or unexpected team that throws a monkey wrench in free agency chases, Randy Miller thinks the Red Sox are the real threat now, read more HERE and HERE.

I would expect a Boston publication to lean and favor the Red Sox, so no surprise there. What is surprising is Randy Miller predicting the Yankees to finish fourth in the Juan Soto sweepstakes. FOURTH? Miller doesn't think the Yankees will go to $600 million that other teams are already willing to give and he believes the Yankees won't exceed 13 years. Because of those factors, he believes the Yankees will have the least attractive offer.

It's interesting to see the Red Sox really getting some traction in the rumor mill department. On one hand I would say that it's not surprising because if anything they could just be in it to drive the price up on Soto's deal. However, David Ortiz is rumored to be very involved in Soto's recruitment. Multiple sources say that the Red Sox are dedicated to adding high caliber players and have roughly $70 million in cap space before the first luxury tax threshold. Scott Boras also said that ownership was "committed" and "wanting to secure high-level players." Now, I don't trust anything that Boras says, because he's paid to do exactly what he's doing right now....cause big waves that gives his clients (and them himself) lucrative deals. Usually I would say you know Boras is lying if his mouth is moving but the Red Sox have been out of relevancy for too long so they are hungry.

Soto himself has also said that he wants to play for a contending team that wants to win. Again, you never count the Red Sox out (ever). He also wants to play for team that has a talent pool and the Red Sox definitely have that. They have a strong farm system and three of the top ten prospects in baseball. So the Red Sox have money to recruit other players with Soto and they also have the talent within. That makes a pretty dangerous combination....and the Yankees lack the stronger farm system.

I don't know that the "Yankees fear Red Sox more than anyone else" but I'm not counting them out by any means. We would be foolish to think that the Red Sox aren't hungry enough to chase Soto and add other talent around him. They've been out of the game for far too long.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj