Yankees reporter just poured dump truck's worth of cold water on team's chances to keep Juan Soto

The New York Yankees' offseason plans are simple: re-sign Juan Soto and figure it out from there. Gerrit Cole is sticking around, as is the majority of the American League-winning core from last season. It all comes down to Hal Steinbrenner's willingness to put up the funds necessary to bring back the four-time All-Star.

If the Yankees can't re-sign Soto, it's difficult to imagine the penny-pinching front office coming up with an adequate alternative. Several appealing bats litter the free agency market — Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Teoscar Hernandez, etc. — but there will be heavy competition on all fronts. The Yankees aren't as head-and-shoulders above the pack financially as we're used to, from the looks of it.

While Soto enjoyed his time in the Bronx, it was not completely smooth sailing. Soto made sure to plant the seeds for his departure at every turn, constantly reiterating his willingness to pack up and leave at season's end. That is just good negotiating — he learned from the best in Scott Boras — but the Yankees haven't been considered favorites to land Soto for a while.

The big-spending New York Mets are the obvious threat, but according to NJ.com's Randy Miller on WFAN 101.9 FM, the Yankees' odds might be even worse than we thought.

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MLB Rumors: Yankees expected to finish fourth in Juan Soto sweepstakes

The Yankees' offer for the 26-year-old All-Star is expected to top out around $550 million. Meanwhile, Soto already has two, potentially three offers worth north of $600 million on the table. The Yankees are the incumbent and have a built-in advantage as a result, but their apparent lack of financial wherewithal essentially eliminates them from the Soto sweepstakes. We can cross the Yankees off the list if their best offer doesn't come within $50 million of the competition.

We have been circling the Mets as the Soto frontrunners for a while, but it's clear the Yankees are particularly scared of the Boston Red Sox. There has been a lot of speculation lately around Boston's involvement in the Soto sweepstakes. It's a major change of course for a Red Sox front office that has been annoyingly cheap for years. Swiping Soto from the Yankees would be a huge win for Boston — and it would spice up the greatest rivalry in baseball.

There have been reports pouring cold water on the mounting Red Sox hype, but the Yankees' apparent fear of Boston speaks to how real the Red Sox' interest is. It also helps that Miller does not single out the Mets as leaders on the Soto front. He puts the Mets and Red Sox on equal footing, which could mean Boston is actually about to do this thing.

It's hard not to be a bit skeptical of the Red Sox' chances, but we can start to fade Soto-Yankees as a possible outcome. It just feels like Soto is ready to move on, and a lowball offer from Hal Steinbrenner won't help the matter. For a New York team that just made it to the World Series stage, losing half your offense would be a real bummer. It remains to be seen if Steinbrenner can put forth the capital necessary to recover from that sort of free agency defeat.