The “Juan Soto sweepstakes” is set to be one of the biggest stories of the offseason.

Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees / Jim McIsaac/GettyImages

The New York Yankees are bound to have one of the more intriguing offseason negotiations when their superstar outfielder, Juan Soto, hits the open market at the conclusion of the season.

Soto, a Scott Boras client, is expected to pursue the biggest deal in baseball history (minus the $700 million Shohei Ohtani deal). The Yankees, historically a team that isn’t shy to spend, will look to be with Soto every step of the negotiations, matching his requests and throwing hundreds of millions of dollars his way.

And Soto’s value has grown the past few days, as the Yankees have struggled without him.

Juan Soto’s price tag continues to grow as Yankees struggle without him

There are so many obvious reasons that Soto is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He’s a generational player — showing a developed approach and the ability to reach base as well as anyone in baseball. Soto’s just 25 years old, yet he’s a veteran of the game. He’ll likely be signing a contract for the next 7-10 years. He puts butts in seats as one of the games most exciting players.

But his value grew even higher as he sat on the bench, injured, and watched the Yankees struggle without him.

Soto has missed two games, both of which the Yankees have lost. New York has scored just four runs in those two games, only really due to Aaron Judge, their other MVP candidate, who’s tallied 3 RBI’s and 2 home runs in Soto’s absence. That leaves the rest of the Yankee lineup a whopping 11-83 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.

As Soto goes, so do the Yankees.

Obviously one player isn’t the reason the Yankees are 45-21, but man, the lineup looks and feels so much different when Soto’s name isn’t in it.

To this point in the year, Soto is neck and neck with his teammate, Aaron Judge, in a race for the AL MVP. Soto’s slashing .318/.424/.603 on the year, which, as insane as it sounds, isn’t a career high in any of those three categories.

The Soto-Yankees negotiations will be something to keep an eye on at the end of the season. Soto has been eager to reach free agency and it’s almost that time.