New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has revealed what highly-prized free agent slugger Juan Soto asked the team’s top brass in a “very honest” meeting on Monday. But Steinbrenner in a 14-minute meeting with reporters repeatedly said that he has “no idea” whether Soto is leaning toward rejoining the Yankees, according to a New York Post report.
Soto, who is 26 years old and will be entering his eighth Major League season in 2025, played for the Yankees in 2024 on a one-year, $31 million contract. But Steinbrenner again said he does not know if that one season gives the Yankees a leg up in the race to sign Soto.
âAll I know is heâs earned this,” Steinbrenner said. “And heâs going to go through the process.â
Soto Wanted to Know About Yankees Farm System
Steinbrenner revealed, however, one particular area of interest for Soto: the Yankees farm system. Wherever Soto signs, he is likely to ink a long term deal that will keep him with one team for at least 10 years, meaning he will have a strong interest in whether that team can be a contender as long as Soto is in the uniform.
“Steinbrenner noted that in their meeting, Soto asked about the clubâs player development pipeline,” reported MLB.com‘s Brain Hoch, “which could be taken as an indication that he is interested in understanding how the Yankees plan to remain competitive long-term.”
So where does the Yankees’ farm system rank, compared to other teams that have met with Soto over the past week? Those other teams reportedly include the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies also plan to meet with Soto in coming days, according to media reports.
If Soto is interested in the team with the best prospect pipeline, that team would be the Red Sox, according to the final 2024 farm system rankings by Bleacher Report.
Red Sox System Far Outranks Struggling Yankees
Led by outfielder Roman Anthony, currently ranked as the top prospect in baseball by Baseball America, the Red Sox system also features infielders Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell, and catcher Kyle Teel, all of whom figure to rank in the top 50 MLB prospects heading into 2025, according to Bleacher Report — which places the Red Sox system third overall, behind the top-ranked Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Yankees system, however, ranks 29th in the Bleacher Report ratings. Outfielder Spencer Jones, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2022 (25th overall) and widely considered the organization’s most promising prospect, has struggled. He struck out an eye-opening 200 times in 2024 when he spent the entire season at the Double-A level, in 482 at-bats. Jones walked just 54 times and posted a mediocre .788 OPS.
The team’s other top farm system player, 20-year-old Dominican outfielder Jasson DomÃnguez, was called up to the Major League club in 2023 and again in 2024 when he saw 56 at-bats but had only 10 hits â though two were home runs. Because of his repeated call-ups, DomÃnguez will likely no longer be considered a “prospect” in the 2025 season.
According to the Bleacher Report final 2024 rankings, the Blue Jays farm system rates 27th, just two notches above the Yankees. The Dodgers placed a healthy eighth, while Philadelphia came in with the 17th ranking, and the Mets 15th.
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