Aaron Boone makes it painfully clear why Juan Soto chose Mets over Yankees

The Yankees have had plenty of time to come to terms with losing one of the best players in baseball, Juan Soto, to the crosstown rival Mets. It couldn't have been an easy pill to swallow, but the Yankees gave Soto their best offer. It wasn't enough, as Steve Cohen turned to his endless pile of cash and made Soto a Met.

New York did make a rather significant push on Tuesday, as they signed left-handed pitcher Max Fried, who should slide in behind Gerrit Cole in the rotation. It's proof of how quickly things can move at the winter meetings.

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Aaron Boone discussed losing Juan Soto to the Mets

Boone, however, is still mourning the loss of Soto, admitting 'it hurts' to be without the Hall-of-Fame talent.

"Obviously, we wanted the player back. Ownership and the front office did everything we could to make it happen, but it just didn't. That's sports, and ultimately Juan earned the right to be in the position that he's in and he made the decision that he felt was best," said Boone.

Boone and the Yankees always knew there was potential for Soto to leave this winter. When they traded for him in the first place, Brian Cashman and Co. understood the risk.

"We went into this eyes wide open... I remember making the deal at the winter meetings. We knew there was no guarantees of anything moving forward. I think, as much as it hurt to make the deal with some of the players that we lost, looking back, I feel like it was the right thing to do and served us well. He had an amazing season with us," Boone added.

Aaron Boone's stubborn nature made it easier for Juan Soto to leave

While all of these are reasonable comments by Cashman, he did make one outlandish statement which had Yankees fans scratching their heads.

On MLB Network, the panel of analysts made the point that the Yankees lineup was far too righty-heavy last season. Losing Soto hurts in that regard, as many of the free-agent bats are right-handed hitters. One of the criticisms of Boone is his game management, particularly when it comes to setting lineups over the course of a 162-game season. Now we know why.

Boone claimed he was worried about being too lefty-heavy when the panel suggested bringing in left-handed hitters, which...is not an issue the Yankees will have. Jazz Chisholm, Austin Wells and Trent Grisham are the only left-handed hitters in the current lineup.

This begs the question...just how well does Boone know his team right now, and the direction of the franchise?