The New York Yankees have yet to figure out what to do about the gaping hole in their offense left by Juan Soto, when the 26-year-old generational slugger accepted a contract from the New York Mets that could end up paying him as much as $820 million over the next 15 years.
They acquired veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and traded for Cubs outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, but together the two aging stars do not come close to Soto’s production numbers.
In a proposed new trade on Monday, Jacob Mountz of Fansided came up with an idea to bring an elite slugger to the Bronx — and do it without giving up any players off the Yankees Major League roster.
Yankees Must Mortgage Future to Get Guerrero Jr.
Of course the only way to do that is for a team to mortgage a piece, or several pieces, of its future in order to win right away. That is exactly what Mountz proposes — giving up not just one but three of the Yankees top 10 minor league prospects in order to bring in a hitter whose .940 OPS last season placed him sixth in the Major Leagues — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Why would the Blue Jays trade Guerrero? The reasons at this point would be strictly financial. Guerrero Jr. has one year left to play with Toronto at a salary of $28.8 million and then he becomes a free agent. The Blue Jays have discussed a new contract with their power-hitting 25-year-old but according to Guerrero, in a recent interview, “What they offered me is not even close to what I’m looking for.”
With the team and player at an impasse, the Blue Jays can either get a year out of Guerrero and hope that they somehow, finally put together a pennant-contending season. Or they can trade Guerrero now and try to get as much value as they can in return.
Trading their superstar player would signal that the Blue Jays are entering total rebuilding mode, and that is why the Fansided scribe believes that the Blue Jays might be open to receiving a rich haul of prospects in return.
Yankees Would Give Up Number 2 Prospect in System
The minor league players that Mountz suggests shipping north of the border include the Yankee organization’s Number 2 overall rated prospect, according to MLB.com, Spencer Jones. The lanky, 6’6″, 235-pound outfielder was taken by the Yankees with their first-round draft pick, 25th overall, in 2022.
“Jones offers an intriguing combination of power and uncommon athleticism,” the MLB.com scouting report on Jones reads. “His bat speed, strength and leverage produce well-above-average raw power and exit velocities, though there are some concerns about how much of his pop will play in games.”
Jones also has a problem with striking out, which he did an eye-watering 200 times in 2024 for the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots (located in Bridgewater, New Jersey). That gave Jones the dubious distinction of most strikeouts ever by a Yankees minor leaguer.
The Fansided writer also said the Yankees should include their Number 10 ranked prospect, Venezuelan outfielder Everson Pereira. MLB.com called him “one of the best all-around talents in the 2017-18 international class,” but noted that his career progress has been held back by injuries.
Finally, in this trade pitch, the Yankees would include 25-year-old righty pitcher Will Warren, who MLB.com calls ” one of the Yankees’ best pitching prospects,” and rates him Number 8 overall in the Yankees system.
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Yankees New Trade Pitch: $427 Million Star In Without Giving Up Any Big Leaguers