Yankees news: Out on Arenado, was Goldschmidt plan B?, ex-coach rips Soto

The New York Yankees are among the many MLB teams trying to juggle a bunch of offseason needs. Which free agents should they target? Which trade options should they pursue? Just how bitter should they be about the whole Juan Soto saga?

There's a lot of offseason left but everyday brings new tidbits to explore. Let's take a look at a few from this week.

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Copium overload from ex-Yankees coach

The Yankees wanted Juan Soto to re-sign. That's not even a question, considering just how high their bid for the slugger went. He's a great player who did great things in pinstripes, even if it was over a shorter period than anyone would have liked. There's no reason for revisionist history about Soto's worth. Of course, Sean Casey isn't listening to all that.

The former Yankees hitting coach had a lot to say about Soto on "The Mayor’s Office" podcast, including questioning his

“Don’t forget, Juan Soto’s numbers were no doubt inflated this year with Aaron Judge hitting behind him,” Casey said, H/T NJ.com. “You take Paul Goldschmidt and you stick him in that lineup with some heavy hitters. I guarantee his production goes way up.

Yes, Judge's presence makes his teammates' lives easier. Goldschmidt should put up better numbers with the Yankees than he did in a down year with the Cardinals. At the same time, Soto put up monstrous numbers in front of Judge. There's a notable difference between the historic production the Soto-Judge combo created and Judge paired with a replacement-level player or even your run of the mill All-Star.

It's the question about Soto's influence on winning that makes Casey's comments eyeroll-worthy.

“But Juan Soto has also been on teams that didn’t win," Casey said. "When he went out to San Diego, they were out there, and he’s on that same team. They didn’t win with (Manny) Machado and (Fernando) Tatis. I don’t know if they even made the playoffs that one year. They had to rally at the end to figure it out."

Soto has been in the majors seven years. He won a World Series at 20 years old while posting an OPS+ of 142. Any winning that the Nationals or Padres failed to do was not a byproduct of Soto.

It's okay to be disappointed that Soto didn't re-sign. It's totally reasonable to find the positives in the Yankees backup plans. Just don't kid yourself and act like Soto wasn't the No. 1 free agent New York wanted for good reason.

Yankees were talking to Carlos Santana before Paul Goldschmidt deal

The Cleveland Guardians surprised many in baseball by bringing back 38-year-old Carlos Santana to replace Josh Naylor. It turns out, a whole lot of other teams were interested in the 15-year veteran.

According to The Athletic, the Yankees were one of several teams "in the mix" for Santana. Those include the Mets, Mariners, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Padres and Rangers.

The Yankees ultimately landed Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year deal worth $12.5 million.

The day before Santana came off the board, the Astros picked up Christian Walker, another apparent Yankees target for first base.

It's not clear what the order of preference between those three players was. Walker signed a three-year deal, which may not have been New York's preference given Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s availability next year. Meanwhile, Santana got a one-year, $12-million deal from the Guardians.

Cleveland clearly had a leg up given Santana's history with the club. Still, it would be interesting to know the order of operations between Goldschmidt agreeing to sign with the Yankees and Santana agreeing to sign with the Guardians. The Athletic reported that the first baseman and his agent were up until 2 a.m. "weighing final offers" on Friday night. If Santana had chosen NY, would the deal have been done?

The Yankees are out on Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman

Another Cardinals star won't be on his way to New York. According to Jack Curry, the Yankees "are not in" on Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman shouldn't be on anyone's Christmas wish list either.

"Bregman is not a fit because of Yankee Stadium dimensions," Curry said on YES Network, per a Reddit user.

The Yankees are still in the market for a third baseman, but it seems the two biggest names out there aren't in the cards for New York. That's a disappointment considering the ceiling Arenado and Bregman could bring to the table.

So who's left? Josh Rojas and Yoan Moncada remain unsigned. The latter is coming off a season with the White Sox batting .275/.356/.400 with an OPS+ of 117 in a limited sample size.

Worst comes to worst, New York could bring back Jon Berti. I'm guessing J.D. Davis isn't on the table.