The New York Yankees have been great so far this season but there is a real chance that the club could lose its top player next offseason.
New York acquired superstar slugger Juan Soto in a trade with the San Diego Padres this past offseason and he has been every bit as advertised so far this season for the Yankees. He has been the club's best player and currently is the frontrunner in the American League to win the Most Valuable Player award.
Soto is a star and New York's trade for him made perfect sense but he will be a free agent at the end of the season so it's uncertain whether or not he will stick around with the club for the foreseeable future.
New York certainly will try to retain Soto, but there will be plenty of clubs who will show interest in him. He will land a massive contract and that's why it makes sense that he will be entering free agency rather than signing a team-friendly deal ahead of time.
While this makes a lot of sense, it's still nerve-wracking that the Yankees will have to wait and see what happens with him. He even dodged a question from the New York Post's Jon Heyman about his future with the Yankees.
"Soto does and says everything right, and he usually says it with a smile," Heyman said. "He’s obviously having fun here unless he’s as good an actor as a hitter. He especially loves the Bleacher Creatures’ roll call. (I didn’t have to ask, but for the record, I did anyway, and he confirmed. Loves it!) It’s all good so far. There’s just that one small negative, which almost everyone knows. And that is that as a free agent after the season, he might be a short-timer. So naturally, I tried to clear up that one lingering, little question in the two minutes I had with him Saturday before Soto had to hurry off to his pregame hitters meeting.
"I had just enough time to pose the $64,000 question: Does he want to stay in pinstripes? No surprise, I’d have almost as good a chance to solve world peace. Too soon to say, Soto said. 'I mean, right now I’m still learning the team. You cannot tell from one month into the season,' Soto said before the Yankees’ 5-3 win over the (Detroit Tigers). 'You’ve got to see how it’s going to be all the way until the season ends.'"
Unsurprisingly, Soto hasn't committed to a long-term future with the Yankees because he's sure to get some massive contract offers in free agency but it's unsettling. We will have to wait until the offseason to see how his contract situation plays out.
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