Juan Soto's free agency has reached its next step with the Yankees

On Tuesday night New York Yankees fans learned of the next step in the Juan Soto free agency process, so buckle up! There's also a chance we get a resolution before the Winter Meetings, which begin on Sunday.

According to the latest buzz, Soto has "begun eliminating teams" from his search. The Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers were the previously reported clubs to submit offers.

It was believed others could potentially jump into the mix — like the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies — but there's been next to no chatter on that front. Soto's market was always bound to be limited because of his unique free agency case (his age, pedigree and dollar figure).

Unless there are mystery offers rolling in at the buzzer, we're likely discussing these five teams between now and whenever Soto makes a decision. This isn't the type of free agency case where a last-minute offer could tip the scales — we're talking about $600+ million here, so it's not like a different owner can swoop in and drop an extra $100 million to convince him to jump ship.

Plus, Soto catered his experience to his liking. He wanted meetings. He wanted initial offers. He wanted to ruminate and hear everyone's compelling case. And now he will narrow it down.

Juan Soto Free Agency: Yankees have reached next step in star slugger's process

Where do the Yankees stand? We'd like to think they'll make it to the final round, contrary to previous reporting that suggested they put a cap on their offer and weren't willing to swim into deeper waters should the bidding war get out of hand.

Though there's the problem of the Yankees spending too much money on Soto and limiting themselves elsewhere, that just cannot be an excuse. Soto is a generational talent, and pairing him with Aaron Judge for the long haul is an opportunity of the lifetime. Adding more around that duo, within reason, regardless if it institutes escalating tax penalties, needs to be part of the organization's plan whether they like it or not.

We'd like to think cooler heads have prevailed through all of the distracting reports, specifically the aggressive (and false) connections to the Red Sox. Yes, Boston remains a threat, but this is far from a done deal and there's no reason to believe the Red Sox hold a significant edge over any of the other remaining suitors.

At least, that's what Yankees fans are hoping for. And they'll find out soon enough. Either they'll be basking in the glory of retaining one of the best players in the league, or they'll be scrambling to institute one of their multiple (and unsatisfying) Plan Bs.