Yankees embarrassingly whiff on Juan Soto return after exhausting sweepstakes

Clearly, falling in Game 5 of the World Series weighed on Juan Soto just as much as we estimated it might've when he was caught lingering in the dugout, staring at the Dodgers' celebration as his Yankees slunk back into the clubhouse. Unfortunately, it didn't weigh on him in the way we'd hoped it would. The enduring image of loss didn't motivate him to return; it paved his path to greener pastures.

Greener in terms of both cash and optimism.

After a lengthy courting session emceed by Scott Boras, Soto got his wish, far exceeding the $440 million extension offer he turned down from the Nationals during the 2021 season. As the bidding swelled past $600 million in its final days, with five heavy-hitting teams still included in the process, it was clear that whichever team earned Soto's signature had a non-financial differentiator. After all, if all teams were willing to prove Soto mattered to them by flexing their full financial might, there had to be some personal preference involved in the final call.

Even worse than Soto departing the Bronx was the destination he chose: the New York Mets, on an offer the Yankees probably could've matched. Nothing else to say except, "Ugh."

Juan Soto leaves Yankees for Mets on massive new contract in MLB free agency

Perhaps Aaron Judge should've reached out instead of going dark after the season ended.

Now comes the Winter Meetings, a period when the Yankees will be able to either pivot to their various Plan Bs or sit on their tails, licking their wounds ahead of another wasted year of Judge's and Gerrit Cole's primes. Of course, both players did a good deal of damage to their own prime years in a 20-minute span of Game 5 of the World Series, but that's neither here nor there.

Will the Yankees parlay their productive call with Max Fried into a follow-up? Is Alex Bregman on their radar, despite his odd ballpark fit at Yankee Stadium? Will they still go cheap at second base, first base and left field (Caleb Durbin, Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez), or is it time for Anthony Santander, Willy Adames (and a Jazz Chisholm position switch), and/or Christian Walker? The possibilities are endless. Unfortunately, none of them make the impossible seem reasonable in quite the same way Soto did.

Rest assured, this marks the end of an era in the Bronx -- and not just the one-year era where Soto helped fuel a run to the World Series. The Yankees clearly wanted a generational talent. Jack Curry made it obvious they were willing to go above and beyond to secure him. It didn't work. What hurts more? That reality, or the overwhelming feeling of being thoroughly unsurprised?