Two years ago, the Yankees failed to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016.

A year later, New York’s offseason was highlighted by bringing in Juan Soto, Trent Grisham, Alex Verdugo, and Marcus Stroman, which resulted in their first World Series appearance since 2009.

While Grisham, Verdugo, and Stroman had notable moments over the course of the 2024 season, it is safe to say that Soto was the biggest difference in the Yankees’ one-year turnaround after a disappointing first year of Aaron Judge’s captaincy.

And courtesy of Soto producing his best offensive season in one year in the Bronx (career-high 7.9 WAR with a .288/.419/.569 slashline, 41 HRs and 109 RBIs), he made himself one of the most lucrative free agents in recent baseball history.

Flash forward just six weeks after the 25-year-old played in his second World Series already, Juan Soto earned the biggest contract in MLB history.

The winning bid landed at 15 years, $765 million to potentially play the rest of his career in New York. The only issue for the Bronx Bombers is that Soto’s contract requires him to play in Queens instead, as Steve Cohen and the Mets were able to land the market’s biggest fish.

According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees offer was not far behind the Mets, as they offered $760 million for a 16-year contract.

Only time will tell the reasons why Soto preferred the change of scenery as opposed to running it back with the reigning AL Champions.

In that time, the Yankees will have to enact their backup plan to salvage the offseason.

The question is, how does New York ensure their offseason consists of strategic, roster-building moves compared to panic decisions?

Step one is to realize that there is no replicating 2024’s production without #22.

Despite the lineup ranking first in home runs and third in OPS, OBP, and runs, a majority of their overall production came from the 1-2 punch of Soto and Judge.

Outside of these two, Giancarlo Stanton was the only other qualified player with an OPS+ above 103, and he only played 114 games in the campaign.

Soto and Judge covered all of the holes in the Yankees’ lineup, which in its current construction are liable to reach 2023 levels of overall production.

But, with an overall lackluster pool of free agents remaining, it is unlikely New York will be able to complete a top-three lineup yet again by simply paying free agents.

So, instead of spending the typical portion of your budget on position players due to necessity, the Yankees should spend the money where the talent lies: starting pitching.

With the Juan Soto sweepstakes rightfully taking the majority of the headlines ahead of yesterday’s signing, the new leading story will be this offseason having one of the deepest pools of starting pitching talent.

Names like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Nathan Eovaldi were aces for their respective clubs a year ago, and are now available on the open market.

While starting pitching was not necessarily a problem in the 2024 regular season, pitching and defense became their demise in the Fall Classic.

Strengthening these aspects of the team by signing one of the premiere names on the market, like Max Fried, alongside a second starter with upside, like Nathan Eovaldi or Patrick Sandoval, will be a strategy for keeping the team competitive in 2025 and the Yankees competitive for 2025’s free agent class, which features more prominent bats.

Despite the Yankees having six starting pitchers currently on the roster, signing two more proven arms would allow starting pitchers with value to become trade candidates for New York, launching the next step of their offseason.

Rookie of the year Luis Gil, making less than $1 million next season, and Nestor Cortes Jr, making $8.3 million before becoming a free agent in 2025, are prime targets to be moved from the Yankees.

With a less-than-ideal position player market in free agency, bats to add to the middle of the lineup could be more feasible via trade.

Now that Judge can move to the right field once again, the Yankees are in the most need of a third baseman, a first baseman, and a center fielder, depending on New York’s opinion on Jasson Dominguez.

Cody Bellinger would fill two of those three gaps properly, with Trent Grisham there to take a portion of the starts in center field from the former MVP. Or, if the Yankees would prefer an everyday option in center field, Grisham could be used in a starting pitcher package to the White Sox for Luis Robert.

Third baseman Ryan McMahon or Nolan Arenado would be another option for the Yankees if they prefer defense and veteran leadership over younger talent.

Regardless of what the player combinations are for the Yankees, it is clear that the majority of the roster construction should come via the trade markets rather than the negotiation table.

This way, the Yankees can complete their team with inexpensive, defensive options to fill out their roster with a greater emphasis on fundamentals. Gio Urshela, Ty France, or Michael A. Taylor are all names that New York could be in on to try and add some Major League depth to a team that may have a lot of shuffling as the season progresses.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, and only time will tell how the rest of the American League shapes out in terms of threats for the pennant, the Yankees could still end this offseason as one of the threats to win their 28th title.

It will be a different look than typically seen from the Bronx Bombers, but this way of strategically retooling the roster as opposed to throwing the money not utilized on Soto for other offensive options keeps them competitive in the Aaron Judge and Gerritt Cole window, while not putting them behind the 8-ball once more premiere names become available in 2025.