"Best deal Yankees never did" – MLB insider claims Bronx Bombers losing Juan Soto opens door for Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Max Fried, Corbin Burnes

The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees to secure Juan Soto's services for a hefty 15-year $765 million deal. Although the Yankees missed out on Soto, it allows pivoting to other options in hopes of remaining competitive.

This thought was echoed by ESPN's Jeff Passan, who was the first to report the Mets' colossal contract for Soto. He appeared on SportsCenter on Sunday and gave his initial reaction to the deal.

As per Passan, the Yankees could be better off without Soto when they reassess the deal in the future. The cap space that they were offering to him could be used to lock up two major free agents still available in the market, including either of the two starters Max Fried and Corbin Burnes, or infielders Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso.

"We can look 5, 10, 15 years down the road, and this may have been the best deal the Yankees never did," Passan said (04:30). "Let's not forget what October was like for them — Juan Soto was the only guy who was hitting. But that shows there are other problems on this team, other holes that need to be filled. Corbin Burns is a free agent. Max Fried is a free agent. Alex Bregman is a free agent. Pete Alonso is a free agent. I could go on and on.

"I'm not saying the Yankees shouldn't go after Soto, but if they take some of that $760 million they were going to offer him and go out and sign a few free agents—maybe even bring in Christian Walker—there are a lot of possibilities for the Yankees to build a better team in 2025 than the one they would have had if they just brought Soto back on a $700 million-plus deal."

Yankees remain interested in free agents to increase roster depth

After the end of the 2024 season, it was easy to identify the shortcomings in New York. They were short of quality infielders with their in-diamond defense being heavily questioned and they lacked depth in their pitching staff. Brian Cashman will look to address that with the remaining free agents.

Because they were reportedly willing to pay as far as $760 million for Soto, it is an indication that the franchise is still ready to spend. They now have to get either Corbin Burnes or Max Fried to keep up their dominance. As for the infield woes, they can inflict consolatory pain on the Mets by taking away Pete Alonso from their clutches and bolstering it further with an opposite corner infielder in Alex Bregman.

The biggest like-for-like replacement for Soto would be Teoscar Hernandez who is also on their radar.