{"id":35494,"date":"2025-03-24T03:25:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T03:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=35494"},"modified":"2025-03-24T03:25:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T03:25:33","slug":"mlb-analyst-praises-yankees-for-addressing-massive-juan-soto-void-%f0%9f%94%a5%e2%9a%be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=35494","title":{"rendered":"MLB Analyst Praises Yankees for Addressing Massive Juan Soto Void \ud83d\udd25\u26be"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Cody-Bellinger.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Cody-Bellinger.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Cody-Bellinger.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Cody-Bellinger.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cody Bellinger\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"6315\" data-img-load-time=\"6700\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">New York Yankees center fielder Cody Bellinger<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Asignificant amount of offseason discussion surrounding the\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">New York Yankees<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0questioned\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">the strength of the team\u2019s offense<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0moving forward without\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Juan Soto<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And it\u2019s not as if the concern was unwarranted, given the MVP-level numbers that Soto has put up in his young career.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cIf you\u2019re Aaron Boone, how are you going to reshape the top of the lineup now that Juan Soto is gone?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">wondered Ryan Garcia of the Fireside Yankees podcast<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0at the start of spring training.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">David Adler of MLB.com suggested in a recent article<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0that the Yankees went a long way toward offsetting the absence of Soto with an offseason acquisition of their own. While going around the league to highlight \u201c15 Spring Training stat lines that matter for 2025,\u201d Adler pointed to the numbers put up by Bellinger, who entered Sunday\u2019s game with a slash line of .400\/.444\/.680\/1.124, including three home runs, five doubles and seven RBIs.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cIf the Yankees are going to make up for the loss of Juan Soto, Bellinger\u2019s going to have to lead the way. What he\u2019s doing in Spring Training is a good start,\u201d Adler wrote. \u201cHis stats are backed up by a 93.1 mph average exit velocity coupled with a swing-and-miss rate under 20% and a strikeout rate under 13%. Plus, his three home runs have all been pulled to right field, just like the vast majority of his homers in 2024. He\u2019s going to love the Yankee Stadium short porch.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>New York Acquired Former MVP Cody Bellinger From Cubs<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"980f23d837144bf2f5a55bdaadac2716\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"lazy-embed lazy-embed--ssr embed-instagram-com lazy-embed--loaded\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DDuaFsoO-aw\/?hl=en\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DDuaFsoO-aw\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=656&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com&amp;rp=%2Fsports%2Fmlb%2Fnew-york-yankees%2Fmlb-expert-applauds-yankees-filling-juan-soto-sized-hole%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A720507.0999999046%7D\" height=\"1114\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On December 17, about\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">a week after Soto signed<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0with the New York Mets,\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">the Yankees traded<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0right-hander Cody Poteet to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Bellinger<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and cash considerations. Sources would later indicate that the Yankees received $5 million to offset Bellinger\u2019s contract, which had two years and $52.5 million remaining, including a $25 million option for 2026 that can be bought out for $5 million.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cHe\u2019s someone that wants to be here,\u201d Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing it for a long time, including his agent Scott Boras saying, \u2018Can you get him over here? He\u2019s driving me crazy. He wants to be a Yankee.\u2019 That\u2019s not why I did it; ultimately, I did it because it\u2019s a fit.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And not just offensively, although Bellinger\u2019s left-handed swing should work nicely at Yankee Stadium. The 29-year-old Bellinger, who was named the National League MVP in 2019 while with the Dodgers, hit 44 home runs with 175 RBIs and 29 stolen bases during his two seasons in Chicago. Over his eight seasons in the league, Bellinger has posted a .259\/.334\/.484 slash line (120 OPS+), with 186 doubles, 196 homers and 597 RBIs.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cI really believe he\u2019s going to play up offensively in our yard, and I think we\u2019re getting a great person to add to the room,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Cody Bellinger Could Impact Yankees Even More on Defense<\/h2>\n<div class=\"embed-youtube-com\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/pa0w8kHGbyA?t=1<\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However, Bellinger will likely have an even bigger impact on the Yankees defense. A Gold Glove winner at right field in 2019, Bellinger has played most of his games in center field since 2020, where he would be an upgrade over Aaron Judge, while moving Judge into right field would be an improvement over Soto. And as an added bonus, Bellinger also has experience playing first base.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201c[Bellinger is] a very good fit because it allows us a lot of flexibility,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cHe\u2019s an above-average athlete. He\u2019s an above-average defender at first, above-average defender in the outfield. He can run the bases extremely well, and his swing is built for Yankee Stadium.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty New York Yankees center fielder Cody Bellinger Asignificant amount of offseason discussion surrounding the\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0questioned\u00a0the strength of the team\u2019s offense\u00a0moving forward without\u00a0Juan Soto.\u00a0 And it\u2019s&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - 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