3 Yankees under the microscope after whiffing on Juan Soto: Cashman falls short

Making the 2024 MLB World Series appearred to be a sign of things to come for the New York Yankees — but losing Juan Soto in free agency puts the future of this team into question. Will the 2025 lineup have enough firepower? Does missing out on Soto open up more spending money for the team, or is that a rose-tinted worldview?

Whatever happens next, the future of the Yankees will be much more scrutinized after losing out on the most prized free agent of the offseason. These are the 3 members of the Yankees organization who will be under the biggest microscope in 2025 and beyond. Some of that is fair, some of it will be cast on them without their say.

1. Brian Cashman

The obvious culprit for New York not being able to keep Soto around is Brian Cashman. Yankees fans are calling for Cashman's job after he couldn't land the superstar back in the Bronx.

There are two ways to look at this; firstly, Cashman landed Soto originally, and the Yankees went to the World Series. Trading for Soto was always going to be a risk for this team, and you can make the argument that he was traded as a rental — and was elite in his short time with the Yankees.

The other argument — the one that most Yankees fans are making right now — is that Cashman traded for Soto knowing that he would be a free agent this winter and then wasn't able to bring him back. Plus, the team didn't even win the World Series so the Yanks front office can't make the argument that Soto helped accomplish the team's ultiamte goal.

How Cashman handles the rest of the offseason will be worth monitoring — and trust me, it will be monitored. Does he panic and trade for Nolan Arenado or Cody Bellinger? Does he move focus to the pitching rotation and sign Corbin Burnes or Max Fried? Does he try to replicate Soto's production with a power bat like Christian Walker? Who knows.

Soto would have made all of those moves added bonuses, but without him they feel more like necessities.

2. Hal Steinbrenner

An owner is always going to shoulder some blame when a baseball team misses out on a free agent like this, and Hal Steinbrenner is no different. The Yankees owner isn't scared to spend money — that's obvious, the team offered a deal over $700 million to Soto as well — but the money itself wasn't enough to keep Soto around. The superstar clearly likes New York, but Steinbrenner couldn't sell him enough to stay with the Yankees.

Steinbrenner has sold big free agents on the Yankees in the past — and probably will sell many more free agents on the Yankees this offseason — but Soto is a game-changer by himself. Where do he and Cashman turn next?

3. Jasson Dominguez

Is it fair to ask a 21 year-old prospect to fill the void of one of baseball's biggest stars? No! But that pressure will be hard to escape for Jasson Dominguez, the Yanks top prospect who will likely slot into Soto's right field position on Opening Day in 2025. Although he has just 100 plate appearances in his MLB career, Dominguez will play a big part of next year's team.

He's been the team's top prospect for a while, and remains in the top 20 of all prospects in baseball. In his very limited time in the majors, he got on base a decent amount (.310 OBP) and has 6 career home runs. Of couse, he's also 21 years old and is a total toss up going into 2025, while Soto is pretty much a guaranteed 5.0 WAR player every season.

Spencer Jones is another top Yankees prospect who might be asked to play a big part in this year's Yankees lineup as well. He doesn't have as much hype as Dominguez, but after a successful season at AA in 2024 (.789 OPS) he's primed for a midseason bump to the professional roster. The two youngsters will have a lot of weight on their shoulders, especially on a Yankees lineup that, at the moment, might need some extra pop.