Yankees News: MLB Insider Gives Hal Steinbrenner a Huge Reason to Keep Juan Soto In New York Amidst Pending Free Agency

Just how remarkable is Juan Soto? It’s not difficult to understand the huge impact this Dominican Slugger has had on the New York Yankees. From their captain Aaron Judge’s constant high praises to the fanbase’s loud cheers, Soto has been accepted with open arms in the Yankees clubhouse. However, while his off-field activities have played a big role, his on-field consistency too can’t be ignored.

Though the Bronx Bombers have been winning since day one of this season, they didn’t have their usual swagger during the initial days. However, somehow, despite their hitters struggling, the team found a way to get wins. One of the chief reasons for these wins was Juan Soto’s unreal consistency. Even when other hitters failed, Soto proved to be a game-changer on more than one occasion. And that’s probably why the two popular analysts were in awe of Soto during their recent conversation.

Top analyst Kevin Millar recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show. While the two discussed the World Series and different teams, the talk inadvertently shifted toward Juan Soto. “Soto is truly remarkable,” Eisen said. He noted that despite being under pressure Soto was doing great. However, what sealed the superstar’s greatness in Eisen’s eyes was the way he held up the Yankees squad when its big guns were failing.

“You show up somewhere the way that he came out of the gate certainly when Judge was struggling and so was Stanton so for him to be there in the two-hole and Volpe obviously sitting there at the top of the lineup,” Eisen said. Initially, both Judge and Stanton had some trouble being consistent. It took the whole of April for All Rise to find his groove and during that time Soto, Anthony Volpe, and Alex Verdugo were the ones who held up the Pinstripes attack.

“I run out of superlatives to describe what he means for the Yankees,” Eisen finished. Certainly, that’s huge praise coming from the analyst. But then Kevin Millar explained how Juan Soto’s arrival has brought a much-needed quality to the Yankees squad.

How the Yankees solved their lefty issue with Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo

One of the most surprising aspects of the New York Yankees in recent years was the shortage of lefties on their squad. In a stadium that suits left-handers, having little to no quality lefties was an absurd situation. Though the entry of Anthony Rizzo solved that issue to some extent, it wasn’t until 2024 that the Bronx Bombers completely fixed that hole. Kevin Millar noted this during his interview.

He noted that with Verdugo and Soto, the team finally had “balance” in it. Millar also noted how they had actually never seen Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in such a balanced team before. As a result, the two had to pull their weight and try to compensate for the lack of power despite being righties. But now that they finally have support, even their performances have improved.  And perhaps that’s why Juan Soto’s presence is so important for the Bronx Bombers. Not only does he perform well but he makes others do well as well.