Latest version of Yankees Juan Soto cope is the most egregious yet

Brian Cashman has done an admirable job cobbling together a plan B in the wake of losing Juan Soto the rival New York Mets. The New York Yankees GM spent big to get Gerrit Cole some help in the form of Max Fried, landed an ideal Clay Holmes upgrade in former Milwaukee Brewers All-Star Devin Williams and didn't have to give the Chicago Cubs much of anything at all in return for Cody Bellinger. There's still work to be done — an infielder or two, more bullpen depth — but New York has gone about filling needs with quality players, and there's still money to spare and prospects to trade.

Of course, all of the above has just been trying to make the best of a bad situation. They call it a "plan B" for a reason: Soto was plan A, and as soon as he decided to leave the Yankees at the altar, everyone knew that New York would have to abandon any hope of being as good in 2025 as it could've been with the star outfielder still on the roster.

Everyone, apparently, except for New York media. Long a cradle for our nation's most preposterous takes, they've truly outdone themselves this time. Their latest masterpiece? It turns out that the Yankees are better off without Soto after all.

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New York columnist makes delusional case that Yankees are better off without Juan Soto

At least according to columnist Bob Klapisch of NJ.com. In his latest story, Klapisch starts off by lambasting Soto's contract demands and Cohen for acceding to them. (One of the most famous athletes in the country wants full-time security for his family? The horror!) Nevermind that Soto's deal looks like it's already paying for itself, or that the Mets paid less on a dollar per WAR basis for Soto than the San Francisco Giants did for Willy Adames. $765 million (or as high as $805 million) is a lot of money, and that's by definition bad.

Unless, of course, it's the Yankees handing it out. Immediately after roasting the Soto contract, Klapisch heaps praise on Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman for going well above and beyond to land Max Fried at the Winter Meetings. Sure, Fried has a history of arm trouble, a 5.10 postseason ERA and a contract that will pay him until he's 38, but downside is only for the Mets to worry about.

And that's just the beginning of the spin. Forget about the fact that almost every metric shows Cody Bellinger as a below-average center fielder at this point in his career, or the fact that he's gotten hurt playing the position in each of the last two seasons. He won a Gold Glove once, and he's not Juan Soto, and so he gets labeled a "Gold Glove center fielder" and we move right along. The fact that New York might wind up swapping a washed Anthony Rizzo for a washed Paul Goldschmidt at first base? Goldschmidt has "Hall of Fame credentials," so what's there to worry about?

None of which is to say that the Yankees won't be a good team next year, or even a very good one. Fried, Williams and Bellinger all filled needs and project to be above-average or better players. Especially with the talent exodus this offseason, it wouldn't be a surprise to see New York back in the World Series next fall. But that has nothing to do with whether they'd be better off if Soto had chosen to say, and you should be able to talk about Cashman's plan without slamming the player who left.

Soto was the perfect possible lineup protection for Aaron Judge, one of the best hitters in the game still just entering his prime. Fried is an enormous boon to the rotation, but the gap between he and, say, Nestor Cortes isn't as big as the gap between Soto and Bellinger. Heck, not even the Yankees think that Klapisch's argument is true. You know how we know? Because they were willing to offer something like $760 million to keep him around. That sure doesn't sound like a team that thinks it'll be better off without the player in question.