One of the defining tales of the New York Yankees’ 2024 has been the sheer “relentless” quality that their hitters have. More importantly, this quality can be attributed to their “Big 3” – the overperforming Aaron Judge, the scarily consistent Juan Soto, and the almost vintage Giancarlo Stanton. After yesterday’s 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins, the trio have created a franchise record for the Pinstripes.
The Yankees had dominated the proceedings since the first inning. However, it was Stanton’s eighth-inning two-run homer that sealed the win for the Bronx Bombers. This was Big G’s 15th homer of the season. With Aaron Judge (21) and Juan Soto (17) right ahead of him, the trio has each crossed the 15 home run mark. This is the first time in the Yankees’ history that three players have reached this mark within the first 62 games of the season. And that led to Aaron Boone asking fans to savor this moment.
“This is impressive. What they’re doing, Big G’s got 15, and yeah, try not to take that for granted,” Boone said in his postgame conference. However, what was really interesting was the sheer trust that the skipper had in Stanton. Despite the superstar going 0-for-3 in his initial at-bats, Boone remained a believer.
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Second-deck shot for Giancarlo Stanton 🚀 pic.twitter.com/V7Er44aoKd
— MLB (@MLB) June 5, 2024
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“I said to him after the homer, ‘Man, I felt like that was coming all day.” He was having good at-bats just missed a couple and then finally hit a pop 110(mph) into the second deck,” Boone said. Now as the trade talks are intensifying within the Yankees, performances like this put Stanton on firm ground. That’s something that one wouldn’t have said when the season started, when Stanton was coming off his career-worst year.
As for Judge and Soto, this is just another hint of how destructive this duo has proved to be. However, the Yankees wouldn’t want to end this partnership just yet. That’s why despite Hal Steinbrenner’s “rationality” – one can expect the Yankees to push hard during Juan Soto’s free agency,
Big 3 rise while the New York Yankees’ future remains uncertain
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While Hal Steinbrenner has revealed his interest in extending Soto’s deal, his cost could be a major issue. Will the New York Yankees owner do the unthinkable and extend a blank check to the Dominican superstar? As of now, that seems unlikely. But then that could possibly be the only way for the Yankees to extend Soto’s stay in The Bronx.
On the other hand, despite Giancarlo Stanton’s great performance, one can’t deny that age is not on his side. Can the Bronx Bombers strike when the iron is hot and look to trade him (that would certainly lower their payroll and give more flexibility for the Soto pursuit)? Even that looks a little unlikely, especially because replacing the bombastic power of Stanton isn’t easy. And all of that has made things rather interesting in the Yankees clubhouse.