Yankees' Brian Cashman makes big Juan Soto admission

Less than 24 hours after the New York Yankees completed a blockbuster trade to acquire All-Star outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged he hasn't yet entered contract negotiations with the 25-year-old set to become a free agent after the 2024 season.

"Haven’t had any conversations regarding that," Cashman said about the situation while speaking with reporters on Thursday, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "We understand he’s a free agent at the end of this term, but we understand it’s a possible short-term situation. But I know he’s going to make our team significantly better."

It was reported this past summer that one reason the Yankees likely wouldn't sign two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani in free agency is because team owner Hal Steinbrenner seemingly didn't want the club's payroll to exceed $300M. However, that claim was made before the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. 

MLB insider Andy Martino of SNY noted earlier this week that sources "familiar with owner Hal Steinbrenner's thinking" said Steinbrenner is willing to raise the club's payroll to over $300M amid the franchise's interest in Soto and in signing Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

Cashman indicated on Thursday that landing Soto represents a "turn-back-the-clock" move to when former owner George Steinbrenner made the Yankees the "Evil Empire" hated by fan bases throughout the MLB community. 

"George Steinbrenner always felt the best players in the world should play here for the Yankees," Cashman explained, according to Chichester. "The Steinbrenner DNA has always been willing to go all-in." 

Of course, Soto has hundreds of millions of reasons to reach free agency next fall similar to how current Yankees captain Aaron Judge tested the open market last offseason. If nothing else, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen assembled baseball's most expensive squad for 2023 and could hand Soto what is essentially a blank check days after the 2024 World Series concludes. 

"Ultimately, the culture we have with the Yankees that we project constantly is our intent to win…we also want to protect and serve our players, put them in the best position to succeed," Cashman said about selling the Yankees to Soto beyond next season. "That in itself and playing in front of one of the greatest fanbases in the world is all selling points on their own."

The Bronx Bombers haven't appeared in a World Series since they won the 2009 Fall Classic and, thus, felt now was the right time to go all-in on a single campaign. As happy as Yankees fans are on the first Thursday of December, their delight will turn to anger if Soto fails to help end the club's lengthy championship drought and then heads elsewhere roughly 12 months from now.