David Cone wants to see Brian Cashman push his chips to the middle.
The New York Yankees have been a runaway train much of this season and are showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, next week’s MLB trade deadline should offer them an opportunity to build even more of a juggernaut.
It’s for that reason, among others, that the Yankees have been so connected to the Juan Soto sweepstakes. Independent of the quality of player Soto is, Aaron Judge has an uncertain future in New York, the Yankees can win now, and have the prospect base to give the Washington Nationals a strong offer.
Whether they’d like to use that prospect capital on Soto – or if the Nationals are even committed to moving him at this deadline – remains to be seen. But appearing on “The Show” podcast, the ex-Yankees pitcher-turned-YES Network analyst encouraged the Yankees to make a serious run at Soto.
"This is Cashman’s one shot,” Cone said. “The Yankees need to do it right now, they really do. The window is there for them, the fanbase is clamoring for it. If you’ve been to Yankee Stadium lately, the crowds are up, the ratings on YES are through the roof, now is the time to strike.
“You look at a top-10 prospects list for the last 20 years, go back 10 years and look at the Yankees top-10 prospect list – maybe one or two of them made it. Anthony Volpe is a nice player, probably going to be the next shortstop for the Yankees, so maybe you carve him out and save him, but pretty much everybody should be on the table if you can get Juan Soto at this point. It would be such a smash for the Yankees to get him in the lineup.
“Obviously a lot of different layers, Aaron Judge, what does that mean to his long-term prospects as a Yankee? Does it mess up the chemistry in the clubhouse? I don’t know how Juan Soto messes up any chemistry when you throw him in the middle of the lineup.”
The truth of the matter is that any prospect a team wants to keep out of Soto trade discussions is probably the first player the Nationals want included in any such talks. Predicting trade packages is a difficult and often useless exercise, but it’s fair to suspect that the Yankees might have to be willing to part with someone like Volpe if it means getting Soto.
There’s no denying the fit, Soto would boost the Yankees’ already impressive World Series chances. But getting him will require an unprecedented haul going Washington’s way, and the Yankees surely are spending considerable time deciding if that cost is worth the risk.
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