The Yankees have moved on quickly after losing Juan Soto. Roki Sasaki could be next

NEW YORK (AP) — In pivoting to Plan B after losing Juan Soto, Brian Cashman went after a familiar name in Cody Bellinger.

“I acquired his dad back in the day. Now I acquired his son,” the New York Yankees general manager said Wednesday.

In the first 10 days after Soto spurned the Yankees for a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets, the Yankees signed left-hander Max Fried to a $218 million, eight-year contract, acquired closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers and obtained Bellinger, a former NL MVP, from the Chicago Cubs.

Cashman said the Yankees also had been invited to meet in California with Roki Sasaki, the heralded 23-year-old Japanese pitcher who can sign with Major League Baseball clubs from Jan. 15-23.

“I’m just happy we have an opportunity,” Cashman said. “Extremely talented, no doubt about it, has a chance to be one of the world’s great pitchers. Be nice to be able to have Yankee Stadium be his home.”

Because he is under 25, Sasaki is treated by MLB as an international amateur and subject to signing bonus pools for minor league contracts usually allocated to 16-year-old Latin American prospects. Teams have amounts ranging from roughly $7.6 million to $4.1 million they can spend, and the Yankees are capped at around $5.3 million.

Bellinger’s father signed with the Yankees in November 1996 and played for the big league team from 1999 to 2001, winning two World Series and three American League pennants. Cody turned 6 in his father’s last season in pinstripes.

“Someone that wants to be here,” Cashman said, a remark that some may read as aimed at Soto. “I’ve been hearing it for a long time, including his agent, Scott Boras, saying, `Can you get him over here? He’s driving me crazy. He wants to be a Yankee.’ But that’s not why I did it. Ultimately I did it because it’s a fit.”

Bellinger could play outfield or first base depending on other moves the Yankees make.

“There’s different ways of doing it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “You’re never going to have the perfect team and you’d never know going into an offseason what you’re going to be able to do, whether it’s hammering a strength, whether it’s plugging a hole. It’s kind of where the market and the matchups happen. And so far, I think the moves that we’ve made I’m really excited about. … I feel like the winter’s to this point been a good one.”

Bellinger is guaranteed $52.5 million for the next two seasons. The left-handed-hitting 29-year-old has a $27.5 million salary for next year and a $25 million player option for 2026 with a $5 million buyout.

“Honored to wear the pinstripes, ready and excited to get to work!!” he wrote on Instagram.

Chicago agreed to send the Yankees $5 million: $2.5 million next Sept. 1 and if the option is exercised, five payments of $500,000 on the first of each month from May through September in 2026. If the option is declined, the Cubs would pay the Yankees $2.5 million on Jan. 15, 2026.

Bellinger batted .266 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs in 130 games this year, sidelined between April 23 and May 7 by a broken right rib. He had a 1.035 OPS in 2019 when he was picked for his second All-Star team and won the NL MVP award with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It has been above .800 once in the last five years.

“I do feel like offensively speaking, he’ll play up in our yard and he’s still a young man and a really good athlete,” Boone said. “So you always hope for the ultimate upside but at the very least I know we’re getting a really valuable player.”

Boone spoke with Bellinger on Tuesday night.

“He’s like, `By the way, don’t worry about where you play me. I’ll play wherever. Wherever you need me that night, whether it’s center, left, first, whatever it may be,’” Boone recalled.

Williams will become the Yankees closer, and Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake said they both assured Luke Weaver he will have a prominent role.

“Weaver will still close some games obviously on given nights I would anticipate,” Boone said. “But I do plan on having Devin be our closer.”

Blake said Jonathan Loáisiga could return in late April or May from Tommy John surgery last May 1. The 30-year-old right-hander has a pending agreement on a one-year contract.

“I imagine him being one of the high-leverage guys,” Blake said. “Obviously, we got to take some time to get him right, make sure we don’t rush him into competition.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB