The more we hear about fallback moves, the more the Yankees must sign Juan Soto

Today's Atlantic Athletic pictures the '25 Yankees if Juan Soto leaves. It's a Dorian Gray portrait, homelier with each glance. Last week, they foresaw Anthony Santander and Willy Adames as possible replacements. Now, it's - gulp - Cody Bellinger - obtained in a trade no less, batting 2nd and, get this, entering his contract year. Yep, another walk-year wobbly. (See it on the right.) 

If Bellinger - son of Clay - somehow returns to glory, we'll spend all of 2025 wondering if he'll head for the exit. He'd be Soto II, if we're lucky. 

Honestly, I dunno know where to start. If we're imagining a lineup with Bellinger hitting second, do we begin by asking what prospects we'll trade for him, from an already depleted farm system? Probably not much, considering that he is...

a) in his walk year
b) way overpriced ($27.5 million per season)
c) coming off meh year (.266, 18 HR)
d) about to turn 30. 

Does that mean we trade a top 20 prospect? Or some 17-year-old lottery tickets? Dunno. But lemme say it, once again, just to hear myself: You can't live forever by trading nobodies without eventually getting Fred McGriffed. The road to insignificance is paved with trades that were immediately hailed by the YES courtiers, hooraying that the Yankees gave up little or nothing. Just sayin... 

But let's get back to Bellinger, a rumored future Yankee now for four winters, ever since his numbers crashed in 2020. Back in 2019, at age 23, Bellinger was - well - Juan fuckin' Soto! - a generational star, a future Hall of Famer and lifetime Dodger. Guy came off a 47 HR, 115 RBI, .305 BA season. He's never since come close. 

But but BUT... he hasn't been shitty, either. In 2023, with the Cubs, he hit .307 with 26 HRs, a comeback. Ever since, Chicago has been dangling him, before the music stops and there are no chairs.

Here's a concern: Last year, Bellinger's On Base Percentage was a paltry .325 - nearly 100 points below Soto's. Would it help him to hit in front of Aaron Judge? Probably. He bats LH and plays a solid CF. But would the Yankees lineup scare anybody with him batting 2nd (and Austin Wells at cleanup? Are we really going there?) And what if Soto is hitting in front of Rafael Devers or behind Francisco Lindor? 

The Athletic notes that the last time the Yankees were too cheap to keep a generational star - Joginson Cano, in 2013 - they responded by signing Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. They won 84 games that year, finishing second in the AL East. (In shorthand, it was the season of Yangervis Solarte.) 

So here's the nut of it: If Soto walks, expect a rage-filled hissy fit of signings and trades, and a flurry of gushes from the YES cheerleaders. But we won't replace Soto. Nope. We'll simply mask the massive vacancy with smiley-face crapola, which is the organization's greatest talent.