Yankees need to retain Juan Soto at all costs

The New York Yankees acquired Juan Soto last offseason to help turn themselves back into a World Series caliber team. With one gigantic swing of the bat in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night, he did exactly that.

Now that he has given them a chance to win their 28th World Series title, they must do everything in their power this winter to make sure he does not get away from them.

He has to continue to be a Yankee beyond this season. Whatever the price tag is, whatever it costs, whatever it takes, they have to do it.

Anything less than that is a failure by Yankees ownership and management. If they fail at this? They should just change their name because they would no longer be what the Yankees name and brand has come to represent.

They are the New York Yankees. The "evil empire" of Major League Baseball. The team that used to be the win-at-all-costs franchise that would spend every dollar necessary to put the best possible team on the field.

But over the past 10-15 years, and especially since their last World Series title in 2009, they have not always operated in that manner.

Yes, they still have a big payroll and one of the biggest budgets in baseball. Yes, they have still made some big splash moves, like trading for Giancarlo Stanton, signing Gerrit Cole and acquiring Soto in the final year of his current contract.

But they have also missed out on some players and potential big moves and have not always operated the way the Yankees used to operate. Or should operate.

Acquiring Soto this past offseason was a nice first step. Keeping him should now be the expectation.

Outside of Soto being adamant that he does not want to play for the Yankees (which this little to no sign of at this point), there should be no excuse for the Yankees to not keep him. The money exists, there is no salary cap in baseball and Soto is the absolute perfect player to invest in with a long-term, massive contract.

He will turn 26 on October 25, so he should still have at least a decade of high level baseball in him, and he is unquestionably one of the three or four best and most impactful players in all of baseball. His ability to control the strike zone, work counts, get on base, hit for average and hit for power is a nearly unmatched combination.

Over the past couple of years the Yankees have been all about Aaron Judge. If Judge was healthy and in the lineup and producing, they would generally win. If he was not, they would lose. As he went, they went. As great as Judge is, it is completely unfair -- and unrealistic -- to put so much pressure on one player. They needed another star and impact player to complement him.

Soto is the perfect player to do that, and his first year with the Yankees has exceeded almost every expectation. They can not let that go across town and join the New York Mets because Steve Cohen is willing to spend more. They can not let him go west because the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants are going to outbid them. They have the resources and they have the right fit.

If they get it right and keep him, they probably will not have to wait another 15 years to get back to the World Series. If they do not, they might as well not even call themselves the Yankees any longer.