A Yankees-Mets trade to bring back fan favorite if Juan Soto's injury is serious

The New York Yankees are anxiously awaiting an injury update for superstar outfielder Juan Soto, who suffered a forearm aggravation and was removed by manager Aaron Boone on Thursday night. Just hours later, the Yankees pulled top prospect Jasson Dominguez from his minor-league action, leading some fans to assume New York was preparing to replace Soto with the MLB-proven Dominguez for as long as necessary.

Of course, those theories have yet to be proven. For all we know, Soto could be fine or require a short IL stint, thus ceasing the panic meter for now. Soto was apparently pulled as a precaution, something MLB teams do all the time when a player is dealing with injuries throughout the season. Per Boone, Soto has been dealing with a forearm issue for the last few weeks. So, when he aggravated it again on Thursday, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“We all decided to not start getting warmed up again after an hour sitting down here [in the clubhouse],” Soto said. “We didn’t want to risk anything like that, so we just decided to stop.”

Soto will undergo further imaging on Friday which will confirm or deny the existence of a more pressing injury.

“It’s just been something that’s been bothering him for the last week or so, he’s been getting treatment on it. It hasn’t really affected him in his baseball stuff, throwing or swinging or anything," Boone reiterated on Thursday night.

What if Juan Soto's injury is more serious than Yankees think?

If Soto's injury forces him to miss more time than expected, the Yankees have a few options. First, they could call up Dominguez early, a player who has plenty of MLB experience and was scheduled to be slotted in the New York lineup upon his return anyway. The second option would be a trade.

Just crosstown, the New York Mets season is in disarray. The Mets are surefire sellers, and already out of the NL East race thanks to the red-hot Phillies. While trading with the Yankees is a humiliating process for any Mets GM, if Brian Cashman offers David Stearns a prospect-laden trade package from the Yankees impressive farm system early on, Stearns will swallow his pride.

Thankfully for the Yankees, the Mets have two outfielders for sale, one of which New York has acquired before at the deadline.

Gomez is the 17th-ranked prospect in the Yankees system, while Hall is ranked 26th. Gomez has MLB experience but has been up and down from the minors the past two seasons. With the Mets, he could receive more regular playing time. Hall has struggled in A+ Hudson Valley this season and could use a fresh start. He'll get that in the Mets system, perhaps in Brooklyn with the Cyclones.

Bader was acquired by the Yankees once before in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. He struggled at the plate and was oft-injured, but did provide a boost to the clubhouse and became a fan favorite in pinstripes.

Bader is performing far better at the plate in Queens, slashing .272/.317/.376. What Bader lacks in power, he makes up for as a scrappy baserunner and elite outfielder. The Yankees could use a guy like that off the bench once Soto returns, and in a more prominent role in the meantime.