New York Yankees' New Additions Won't Replace Superstar's Production

The New York Yankees have started up Spring Training and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the team heading into the campaign.

After a successful offseason so far for New York, the team will once again have World Series expectations coming into the year. While the team isn’t perfect, they did a nice job navigating the winter, especially after losing their star.

The Yankees were able to spread out their money nicely this offseason, making upgrades to the starting rotation, and bullpen, and adding some more depth to their lineup.

However, losing a player like Juan Soto will certainly raise some questions about what the lineup will look like heading into the season.

Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic recently wrote about the biggest question for the Yankees going into Spring Training. They highlighted some comments made by Hal Steinbrenner about new additions coming in and replacing the production of Juan Soto, which might be a stretch.  

“He told the YES Network that the two former MVPs will 'make up for a good deal of Juan’s offense.' That’s a big ask for two players who were respectively exactly league average and slightly above league average last season," the pair wrote.

It is certainly going to be asking a lot of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to replace the production of Soto in 2025. Last season with New York, the talented slugger slashed .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 108 RBI, in arguably the best year of his career.

While he is being replaced by two former MVPs, both players are a couple of years removed from those numbers. In 2024, Goldschmidt slashed 245/.302/.414 with 22 home runs. However, his second half of the season was stronger.

At the former MVP's age, increasing production seems unlikely, but if he replicates his numbers from 2024, it will be a boost at the position from years past.

Bellinger could be the potential wild card for the Yankees’ lineup. At just 29 years old, he is still very much in his prime. Last year with the Chicago Cubs, he slashed .266/.325/.426 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI.

The power numbers have been a bit inconsistent for the left-handed slugger, but 81 home games in Yankee Stadium might help him get to around 25 dingers in 2025.

While it isn’t going to be possible to replace the production of Soto with just one player, depth in the lineup is something that New York was lacking last season. With the additions of two former MVPs, the lineup won’t be as reliant on their stars as they were last season.

Overall, while the production of Soto likely isn’t replaced, the balance should help the Yankees have a successful year on offense.

Recommended Articles