During Juan Soto's meetings with the New York Yankees last month, one of the Yankees' goals was to give Soto a chance to get to know owner Hal Steinbrenner a little more. Hal Steinbrenner is known among his employees as respectful and deferential -- a far cry from his father, George Steinbrenner. Hal explained to Soto that part of the reason he hadn't spent much time with the slugger was because he didn't want to be something of a distraction for a player working in New York for the first time.
General manager Brian Cashman said at the time he traded for Soto a year ago that he understood it was a one-year rental and that Soto might leave for another team as a free agent.