The Yankees made the biggest move to date in the offseason when they acquired outfielder Juan Soto from the Padres in a massive seven-player deal. Here’s what I think of the trade, and a few thoughts on what else happened over the past week as Brian Cashman takes his swings at trying to improve a roster that desperately needed help.

There is no way that I’m going to sit here and tell you that I’m not excited that the Yankees are going to have superstar hitting machine Juan Soto on the 2024 team.

The 25-year-old lefty-swinging outfielder is one of the best players in Major League Baseball and he instantly becomes a major weapon for an offense that was beyond pathetic in 2023.

But I will share my only hesitation: Unless the Yankees can sign him in free agency before the 2025 season - which he is absolutely going to test - they’re only going to have him for 2024, a season in which, quite frankly, they may struggle to make the postseason even with him in the lineup unless Brian Cashman can continue to make critical additions, most notably, landing Japanese pitching phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

And if that’s the case - that it’s just a one-year rental which may not be enough to push the Yankees into a playoff berth let alone an AL pennant and World Series title - I have to ask why didn’t they choose to save their assets and then make a run at him when he hits the free agent market next year?

Aside from the $33 million salary he is expected to earn through his last year of arbitration, the cost was pretty hefty as Cashman shipped pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez, and Drew Thorpe (the Minor League Baseball pitching prospect of the year), plus spare part catcher Kyle Higashioka to San Diego in exchange for Soto and defense-first outfielder Trent Grisham.

“He’s a free agent at the end of this term,” Cashman told reporters Thursday. “But we understand it’s a possible short-term situation. I know he’s going to make our team significantly better. The future is always now.”

I can’t argue with that and again, as I said at the start, I’m not going to shit on this transaction because Cashman - under tremendous pressure from a relentless fan base that is furious after last season’s 82-80 disgrace - needed to make a huge splash this offseason and this was about as big as it gets. So, while we may end up being very frustrated at this time next year if the Yankees go nowhere and then fail to re-sign Soto, let’s enjoy what is immediately in front of us because this guy is one hell of a player.

How great is Soto?

Soto was, without question, the most impactful hitter not named Shohei Ohtani who was either available in free agency or known to be on the trading block, and as we all know, upgrading the horrible offense was the Yankees’ No. 1 priority.

Assuming that putting on the pinstripes won’t jinx Soto and he doesn’t miss half the season with injuries, Soto will be a blast to watch. For the record, he has never missed extended time since he first arrived in 2018 with the Nationals, playing in at least 150 games in four non-COVID seasons including all 162 last year for San Diego, but he’s tempting fate playing for the injury-cursed Yankees.

As Cashman said, he is a “transformational bat” and there’s not an ounce of hyperbole in that statement. Soto is already one of the greatest hitters the sport has ever known, someone who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory, and you just drool at the possibilities of what he could do with that short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium.

To date - 4 ½ years with the Nationals, 1 ½ with the Padres - this is the havoc Soto has wreaked on opposing pitchers. In 779 games and 3,375 plate appearances, he has 160 homers, 483 RBI, 640 walks compared to just 577 strikeouts, and a slash line of .284 average/.421 on-base/.524 slugging with an OPS of .946.

His home run and walk totals are the most in history before an age-25 season, and his OPS ranks 27th in history with 20 of the 26 players ahead of him already in the Hall of Fame. Soto is also one of only seven players - Mickey Mantle also being one - to have multiple seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 walks before turning 25 because he has a rare combination of power and a keen batting eye.

Three times, including last year with the Padres, he has led MLB in walks, twice he has led in on-base percentage, and he has led once each in OPS and batting average. He has won four Silver Slugger awards (best hitter at his position), has played in three All-Star Games, and has finished in the top nine four times for NL MVP including a runner-up in 2021.

Let me repeat: Soto just turned 25 after the 2023 season was complete.

For comparison, here’s what Aaron Judge has done across 835 games and 3,619 plate appearances: 257 home runs, 572 RBI, 560 walks compared to 1,038 strikeouts, and a slash line of .282/.396/.586 with an OPS of .982. With the exception of the big lead in home runs, the case is easy to make that Soto is the better overall offensive player, and he’s 25 compared to Judge who will be 32 this year.

What did the Yankees give up?

King was the biggest piece going back to San Diego, a pitcher Padres GM A.J. Preller demanded and if Cashman had refused, the deal wasn’t happening. I can’t blame Preller because King has been very good, and the key is that he transitioned from the bullpen back to a starter late in the year and that’s what the Padres need most, starting pitching.

It hurts to lose King, a 28-year-old who was born in Rochester and is just starting to reach his prime. Last year he pitched to a 2.75 ERA and 1.146 WHIP in 49 games, but his nine starts at the end were much better as he had a 1.88 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. He was looking like a legit No. 3 starter in New York.

Brito and Vasquez both contributed last season as spot starters and middle relief guys with Vasquez especially impressive as he had a 2.87 ERA, but they are imminently replaceable parts.

Thorpe will be interesting to watch. Last year between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, the 2022 second-round draft pick was outstanding as he went 14-2 with a 2.52 ERA, a 0.983 WHIP and 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings. The righty has star written all over him, but that remains to be seen because as of right now, he’s just a prospect who has never even pitched in Triple-A, let alone the majors.

And then of course there’s Higgy who had no place on the roster anymore with Jose Trevino set to return and Austin Wells expected to be the backup catcher.

Who else have the Yankees obtained?

Coming from San Diego with Soto is Grisham who isn’t much of a hitter as his career average is .216 across 547 games and 2,041 plate appearances, though he does have 61 homers. However, the 27-year-old former first-round pick of the Brewers in 2015 is a two-time Gold Glove winner (2020 and 2022) while with the Padres.

His inclusion in this trade had less to do with the Yankees needing to add a fourth outfielder than it was strictly a way for the Padres to shed more payroll. If nothing else, the lefty-swinging Grisham will be a useful defensive replacement, say for Soto in the late innings, or on the rare days when Giancarlo Stanton is playing the field.

That is not the role that Alex Verdugo will play. The Yankees acquired the lefty-swinging outfielder a couple days before the Soto blockbuster in a rare trade with the Red Sox. That deal cost the Yankees three other pitching prospects - Richard Fitts, Nicholas Judice and the only name you’ll recognize, Greg Weissert, who has been up with the Yankees for occasional stints the last two years with middling results.

Verdugo is a polarizing player, a guy who can get hot with the bat but then go into dreadful slumps. He went to Boston with some pressure on his shoulders because he was the biggest name going back there in the 2020 trade that sent Red Sox superstar Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, and for the most part, Verdugo played pretty well in Boston.

He was there four years and slashed .264/.324/.421 with 37 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 54 RBIs and an OPS of .745 in 142 games. And over his seven MLB seasons, Verdugo has a tidy slash line of a .281/.337/.428 with 57 homers, 255 RBIs and an OPS of .765 in 651 games.

That’s a tremendous upgrade over anyone the Yankees had playing left field last season, which is why I’m a little surprised that some fans have criticized this deal. In 31 career games at Yankee Stadium, Verdugo hit .252 with an OPS of .736, but he also engaged in some banter with the bleacher creatures and I think that’s where some people took umbrage with the Yankees acquiring him.

Verdugo has also been a bit of a loose cannon at times and Red Sox manager Alex Cora had issues with him. Cora benched him last year when he showed up late to the ballpark, and another time for not hustling, so those are red flags, but I think Verdugo can help the Yankees.

What still needs to be done?

The Yankees are reportedly meeting with Yamamoto on Monday. There is heavy, heavy competition to sign the right-hander, including from the crosstown Mets whose owner, Steve Cohen, flew to Japan to meet with him recently.

As I wrote last week, Yamamoto is the prize pitching free agent available, if you don’t count Ohtani, which I don’t since he won’t even be pitching in 2024. The 25-year-old has won Japan’s version of the Cy Young three years running, and his numbers blow you away - an ERA over the past five years of 1.64, including a 1.16 mark in 2023 when he had a ridiculous strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.29.

To sign him, there are no projections that could get close to $300 million which seems insane, but the argument being made is that it is so rare that a pitcher this young and accomplished is on the open market, so teams are going to happily overpay. And in that arena, it’s not great for the Yankees if they’re going head-to-head with Cohen, the richest owner in the sport.

Beyond that, Cashman needs to add a fifth starter behind Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes if the don’t get Yamamoto, and he has to upgrade the bullpen. Scott Effross, a 2022 trade acquisition who missed all of 2023 after Tommy John surgery, will be back, and Cashman is reportedly interested in bringing back Wandy Peralta and I’m all for that. But he needs more, especially now that Brito, Vasquez, King and Albert Abreu are gone, and Ron Marinaccio is an unknown after a lousy 2023.

Aaron Boone said that D.J. LeMahieu will be the third baseman and the backup to Anthony Rizzo at first. And if he isn’t part of a trade, Oswald Peraza seems like the best bet to be the depth infielder because he can back up LeMahieu at third, Anthony Volpe at short and Gleyber Torres at second.