Why Keith doesn't believe Juan Soto is coming back to Yankees
Keith was asked by a caller if he believed Juan Soto would be in pinstripes next season, and Keith made it clear that he believes Soto’s time in the Bronx is over.
“I don’t,” Keith said. “I think there are going to be more than one team that is willing to go past the line that the Yankees are...I think someone is gonna pay a higher price, and if Soto is what we think he is after his comments...someone is gonna outbid them.”
Keith doesn’t see Hal Steinbrenner being willing to pay the exorbitant price to would take to keep Soto in the Bronx long term, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Yanks won’t be able to get back to a World Series, as the Yanks could use that money on other additions while hoping internal options live up to the hype.
“In my heart of hearts, be in on the sweepstakes, but if you lose out on that sweepstakes, that’s a ton of money you can use to help this team, and you kind of have answers,” Keith said. “You have a Jasson Dominguez waiting in the wings. You have a Spencer Jones on the way. Something to think about.
“As great as Juan Soto is, you know and I know that the Yankees have a lot more problems than just right field. And Aaron Judge should be in right field with the Judge’s Chambers. It’s about a team. It’s not one or two guys...even though he’s a great player.”
On the flip side, the free agent class outside of Soto is weak this offseason, so bigger additions would likely have to come via trade. And Soto proved his immense worth to the Yanks in this postseason run, posting a playoff OPS above 1.000 while hitting one of the biggest home runs in the team’s recent October history with a game-winning three-run blast in the clinching game five of the ALCS.
“The case I would make for the Yankees is that we don’t know if they have enough dogs...Soto is a dog,” Keith said. “You need guys like that who are battle tested and battle proven.”
