The New York Yankees sit atop the American League East division with an 18-13 record, but their early success might come as a surprise when you consider what they’ve lost since last year.
After reaching the World Series in 2024, the team parted ways with veterans Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Clay Holmes. Those were all reasonable free agent decisions. But the Yankees also lost one of the best players in all of baseball as they fell short in the bidding for Juan Soto, who took a historic $765 million deal with the New York Mets instead.
That loss seemed as if it would hurt the offense, even after the Yankees added Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger in response. But instead, the Yankees are off to one of the best offensive starts of any team, while Soto is struggling at the plate.
The Yankees lead Major League Baseball with 53 homers and a .267 batting average so far. Meanwhile, Soto is slashing an uncharacteristically low .241/.368/.384, leading Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media to call the start a “post-Juan Soto offensive improvement.”
“With Soto across town on the Mets, and thus far not living up to his 15-year, $765-million contract with a .241 average and three homers, the Yankees are still the bombers,” Miller wrote. “Actually, so far the Yankees’ offense has been better without Soto.”
After losing the best on-base talent in the sport, the Yankees have seen younger contributors like Austin Wells and Ben Rice carry the load alongside superstar slugger Aaron Judge.
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When asked about the Yankees’ new-look offense this year, Judge offered three words in response: “It’s been incredible.”
“I think the growth in our young guys is going to be the key to us getting back to the World Series,” Judge added, per Miller.
Miller also asked Yankees manager Aaron Boone about his takeaways from the Yankees’ improvement to start this “transaction season.”
“I thought we had a chance to still be really good offensively, but in a different way,” Boone answered. “We’re counting on some young players emerging and getting better. I think that’s happening and happened.”
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