Insider predicts dream Yankees offseason on MLB Network (but Brian Kenny has weird take)

It's easy to distract Yankees fans with Shiny New Object Syndrome, but this offseason, they really and truly need as many objects as their boldest dream can conjure up.

Some free agency and trade fits are imperfect, but even the most imperfect additions would likely be preferred to the players who constitute a roster that nearly finished under .500. The Yankees, with this Gerrit Cole performance and this payroll and this captain, finishing 82-80 was just as bleak as the White Sox going 30 under. The lineup was unforgivably poor. The "best rotation in baseball" ended up as maybe the 20th. Where do they need help? All around, and we can all agree on that, whether you're in love with the current free agent slate or not.

So, what's the solution? A blockbuster Juan Soto trade featuring three of the Yankees' top young pitchers and Everson Pereira? A Cody Bellinger signing that blows the Giants' financial doors off? A Yoshinobu Yamamoto coup that makes the Mets look comparatively feeble? Honestly, at least two of these things, if not all three (plus a Cardinals trade).

At least, in these otherwise darkened days, MLB insider Jon Heyman gets it. He hopped on MLB Network this week and outright predicted that the Yankees would woo two of these three core players by the end of the offseason. Fellow analyst Brian Kenny then acted as a stick in the mud, claiming baselessly that even Soto would not solve their current conundrum.

Yankees could come away from offseason with two of Juan Soto, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Cody Bellinger?

Preferably the, uh, first two.

It's certainly possible -- nay, likely! -- that adding Soto alone will not turn a mincemeat lineup into the game's best. But he's a 25-year-old lefty bat in a lineup devoid of both lefty bats and youth. He's a .430 OBP guy with 40-homer power and World Series pedigree -- already! Who cares if he isn't a franchise quarterback? Those don't exist in baseball!

You're not allowed to tell the Yankees they aren't young or left-handed enough, then demand they stay out of the young left-hander market when an MVP candidate becomes available. And you're certainly not allowed to do that if your whole argument is, "It won't solve everything!" No kidding. Steps forward are still preferred.

Heyman, unfortunately, also published a column this week warning the Yankees of a Soto trade, claiming he'd cost two much for a rental. If his prediction is that the team still lands two of his listed superstars, it's quite clear where he now believes the Bombers' offseason will end. We tend to think a little differently here, but there's no problem in divergence. The fact remains two is better than one, and a Brendan Donovan trade could add to the bounty nicely.