The New York Yankees suffered a crushing blow earlier this offseason when the move many expected all year actually went down with Juan Soto departing from the crosstown rival New York Mets.

Losing a player like Soto who is arguably the best hitter in all of baseball and losing him to the Mets of all teams certainly stings, and it would be foolish to say the Yankees can simply replace him. You don’t replace a 26-year-old 8.0 WAR, near 1.000 OPS type player who has an ability in the clutch that while difficult to quantify on a stat sheet, is undeniably essential to winning a championship.

The blow of no longer having Soto will be felt and it will be felt significantly.

With that being said, New York has responded in a way since things became official with the Mets that has put the team potentially in a better position to win next season than they were just two months ago at the conclusion of the World Series.

It’s a difficult argument to make when you consider that after not even making it back to baseball’s biggest stage since the last banner in 2009, last winter’s trade for Soto put the Bronx Bombers back where they belong.

But even with Soto, it goes without saying the 2024 team was flawed and realistically never stood much of a chance going up against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.

Looking at the roster as constructed today, it’s entirely plausible general manager Brian Cashman has a better and more complete team on his hands than he had in 2024.

For one, virtually the first thing he did after Soto left was bring in a second ace at the top of the rotation to pair with Gerrit Cole in former Atlanta Braves left-handed star Max Fried. The addition of Fried along with Cole, Carlos Rodón, and AL rookie of the year Luis Gil gives the Yankees one of the best rotations in all of baseball.

Acquiring a premiere reliever in Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers via trade even further shores up the pitching staff.

The most significant acquisitions though might just be two veterans who were essentially cast aside by their previous franchises and arrive to New York ready to make a statement.

Landing Cody Bellinger basically for free in a salary dump by the Chicago Cubs strengthens the overall outfield tremendously, assuming that’s where the versatile Bellinger ends up playing. Aaron Judge can move back to right field with Bellinger in center and presumably top prospect Jasson Domínguez getting his shot in left field.

It’s St. Louis Cardinals legend and arguably the best first baseman of the generation in Paul Goldschmidt who could be the X-Factor.

The .619 OPS the Yankees got out of the first base position as a whole in 2024 placed them dead last in the entire league. Things got so bad in the playoffs at the position they were forced to start someone who had never made an MLB appearance at first in Jon Berti.

Goldschmidt is a far cry from what he once was now at the age of 37, nobody is denying that. But even the version of the future Hall of Famer from the 2024 season, statistically the worst of his career offensively, is a significant upgrade from what the Yankees deployed there last season.

There’s also reason to believe Goldschmidt can turn things around. He is just two years removed from what was likely the best season of his career and his first-ever MVP award after finishing top-ten five other times including two instances in second place in the voting.

At the age of 35, the seven-time All-Star hit 35 home runs with a .981 OPS and a .317 batting average, numbers where if New York could just get half of they would be thrilled.

It should also be noted that even with his offensive decline, Goldschmidt has remained reliable in terms of staying on the field, playing in over 150 games each of the last two years as he’s done every full season since 2014.

Goldschmidt along with the other additions put the team in a spot where they are not so one dimensional and reliant on just two players for their offensive production. This is more of a team in the traditional sense today than it was in October.

So no, the Yankees are not replacing Soto with a couple of pitchers and some aging veterans. But they might just now be more equipped to win, and win big.