Rickie Ricardo does every Yankees game for our Spanish-language affiliate WADO (and sometimes, of course, filled in here on WFAN) and Randy Miller has been at just about every game for NJ.com over the last decade…and when they get together, sparks fly.
And that’s what happened this weekend, as Randy, who was the first to put out there that teams had started to give Juan Soto concrete offers, joined Rickie to give his take on the Soto free agency chase…and it doesn’t look good for the Bronx?
“I'm hearing the Yankees fear the Red Sox more than anyone in getting Soto,” Randy said. “At the beginning when I was hearing this from people that know Soto, I was skeptical on this, because I just figured the Red Sox don't go all in on guys and I figured this was the Mets’ guy all along – and now I'm believing that this is gonna be either the Mets or Red Sox. I think the Blue Jays are all in and I don't know that Soto will go there, but I think it's gonna come down to the Red Sox and Mets.”
According to Miller, it’s a little bit recruiting, a little bit promises, and a lot of a Hall of Famer.
“From what I’m hearing, Big Papi is playing a role in this and recruiting Soto hard, and I heard he was very impressed with the Red Sox,” Miller said. “I hear the Red Sox are telling Soto that they're gonna bring in a couple of extra players in addition to him; that's the same thing that the Giants told Judge and did not live up to it, and that's a big reason why Judge ended up back with the Yankees a couple of winters ago. The Red Sox have a very good farm system – I believe they have three of the top 10 prospects on MLB Pipeline – so their position here if they get Soto and a couple of other guys who have a window to win here is kind of like the Orioles right now.”
So where are the Yankees right now in all of this?
“I think the Yankees are gonna finish fourth, that’s my guess,” Miller said. “From what I hear the Yankees clearly value him, but I don’t think the Yankees will go to $600 million; I’m hearing the Yankees will top out probably in the 550 range, and I haven’t confirmed, but I believe that Soto has at least two and maybe three offers already over 600. I know how great a player he is, but he's a great hitter, not a great player, and if you bring back Soto, that means you're stuck with judge in center field. I've seen Judge icing his knee, and you don't want him in center field. A lot of people have told me if you get Soto for 15 years – and there's no way the Yankees will go 15 years, I think they'll go 13 tops – you’re probably gonna get six years of the Albert Pujols that the Angels, had and you don't want that.”
Randy also says that if the Yankees don’t get Soto, they are intent on ‘spending a lot of money on two or three other players to make themselves better,’ and with a lot of needs, they might have to move quickly.
Take a listen to Randy and Rickie’s entire conversation above.