Yankees Rumors: These Stars ‘Still In Play’ After Alex Verdugo Deal

The Yankees made a splash move Tuesday night, and it sounds like New York isn’t finished making waves this Major League Baseball offseason.

Although the Bronx Bombers might not be a real player in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes, they reportedly are looking to add elite-level talent. Shortly after Brian Cashman and company acquired Alex Verdugo from the Boston Red Sox, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman highlighted a pair of stars drawing interest from the Yankees.

“Juan Soto (or Cody Bellinger) still in play for Yankees even after Verdugo deal,” Heyman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “If it’s Soto, (Aaron) Judge presumably plays CF.”

Bellinger is one of the best players available in free agency, and Heyman projects the 2019 National League MVP to fetch an eight-year, $240 million deal on the open market. Soto would need to be acquired via trade with the Padres, and the Yankees theoretically could use Verdugo in a package sent to San Diego. A return to the West Coast also might be of great interest to the Arizona native who broke into the big leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

So, we probably can expect New York to add a big bat this winter, potentially even before the calendar flips to 2024. The Yankees might aim high in the pitching market, too, as manager Aaron Boone on Tuesday expressed his opinion that Yoshinobu Yamamoto would “look pretty good” in pinstripes.