NEW YORK (PIX11) — Former Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey thinks the Yankees need Padres star outfielder Juan Soto. PIX11’s Marc Malusis, along with every other Yankees fan, would agree.

Soto would give the Yankees a tremendous 1-2 punch to accompany Aaron Judge. He just turned 25, and he is a left-handed hitter who wants to return to playing baseball on the East Coast. He hit .297 this past year with San Diego with 35 homers, 97 runs scored and 109 RBI.

The question now for the Yankees is, will they make a trade for Juan Soto?

We know this: the Yankees had a disappointing year and did not make the playoffs. We also know they drew fans at home and on the road. We do know the Yankees are valued at $7.1 billion. Their gross revenue in 2022 was $657 million.

The Yankees, from a business perspective, are a raging success. On the field, not so much.  Will there be significant changes to how the Yankees make baseball decisions? We shall see.

Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner talks a good game: let’s see where the actions are and what those changes are. 

We watched in these playoffs as the top five winningest teams in the regular season in Major League Baseball failed to make it to the World Series. The Yankees have had an interest in Corey Seager, Matt Olson, Pablo Lopez, Manny Machado and Freddie Freeman, just to name a few over the years, and they have all ended up someplace else.

The Yankees analytics department never felt they had to have those guys to win. It is great to have interest. Now, it is time to close the deal. But how motivated will the Yankees be to feel the need to trade for Soto when the fans still come?

Profits are rising, and we have watched the post-season play out the way it has, with the unexpected crapshoot results.

The Yankees need Juan Soto, true. But do the Yankees really need Juan Soto? There is a difference.