"Let me tell you how it will be..."

Wondering what the Yankees are going to do if they can't sign Juan Soto?

Just consult The Yankee Way: The Untold Inside Story of the Brian Cashman Era, by Andy Martino.

Martino's book contains a firsthand description (pp. 259-263) of how Cashman and his staff reacted as the attempt to re-sign Judge came to a head, just as MLB was having its annual winter meeting in San Diego, in early December, 2022. As rumors spread that Judge was about to sign with the Giants or even the Padres, Cashman and the Yankees "braintrust"...essentially did not have a clue.

Here are a couple lines from Martino, who was in San Diego, covering the meetings, and running into Cashman, Boone, and other Yankees front office guys at their hotel:

"...it felt as if the Yankees were losing the thread. They were now in the dark during a crucial point in negotiations, unaware even where Judge was or planned to be."

Boone "and several high-ranking Yankee officials" sat in a bar, debating whether Judge was flying to SD, as rumored, whether or not Boone should call him...and generally sounding like a cast of Waiting for Godot. "Cashman remained up in his suite, working."

The next day, as rumors spread that Judge had maybe already decided to go home to San Francisco, the Yanks fell into complete disarray:

"For the first time, the front office discussed among themselves the notion that perhaps Judge was done as a Yankee...Upstairs in the Yankees' suite, Cashman and his lieutenants fell silent. A few dropped their heads into their hands...the room was soon funereal: there was quite typing, the occasional sigh, and the heavy feel of dejection." 

That evening, with everything still unresolved:

"A pair of Yankee executives passed through the lobby of the Hyatt, their shoulders sagging, their mouths turned downward...In [the] fortieth-floor bar, sitting on couches that sat low to the ground, some in the ton office began to speculate on next steps after Judge left. Would it be better to sign the next-best free agent (at that moment, shortstop Carlos Correa)...Maybe the Yankees should sign the center fielder Brandon Nimmo and as much pitching as they could gather? 

"This is how uncertain the future of the Yankees became at that moment...Cashman did not participate in this gathering. Wary of being seen by the public with a drink in his hand when news broke that Judge was signing elsewhere—how would that go over with an angry fan base?—he remained in the suite."

Yep. 

This is, mind you, in a book that's well worth reading, but which can best be described as hagiographic whenever it turns to Brian Cashman. Nonetheless, we learn how thoroughly unprepared the Yankees were in dealing with what had been an obvious possibility for at least a couple years. 

There was no Plan B. There was no plan A. There was just random speculation. 

"Maybe we should sign Nimmo" (pictured above), a perfectly adequate outfielder who batted .224 this season, has an OPS over 200 points below Judge's, and is know mostly for running to first when he gets walks.

Hurrah.

You can rest assured that, with the Yankees, nothing has changed, and there is still no plan in place. If and when the youngest superstar in the majors—a superstar who already cost them a first-rate starter—walks off the team, the New York Yankees will, maybe, sign the closest thing to Brandon Nimmo.

Or maybe not. Maybe this year, they'll just count on us being satisfied with Spencer and The Martian, and save Hal even more money. 

What a farce.