THE New York Yankees have a clear goal after failing in the World Series: re-sign Juan Soto. This seems to be a mustafter the year he just had and where the team is at right now. That being said, Soto is a free agent. It is entirely within his control where he will end up. There is a very realistic photo showing Soto playing his last game in pinstripes.

If Soto makes the decision to leave the Yankees, Brian Cashman will have to respond one way or another. Wasting Aaron Judge’s few remaining years of excellence cannot be an option. Perhaps an obvious backup plan available to New York is to continue second best hitter available on the open market – Pete Alonso.

Bringing Alonso on board would make sense, but it’s hard to blame the skeptics who aren’t too enthused about giving a big free agent contract to a 30-year-old first baseman who’s just coming off his worst season. Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay is one of those skeptics, as he revealed on The Michael Kay Show.

“I like Pete Alonso as a player, but why would the Yankees do that? How is that their plan B? It doesn’t make sense to me. A right-handed hitter they’re going to have to spend six times . -seven. He’s 30, why would you do that? How does that fit the Yankees’ game plan with their left field?

Again, it makes sense that the Yankees would avoid giving Pete Alonso the big contract he’s likely going to receive. In general, power first basemen don’t age particularly well, and with the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium, left-handed hitters generally produce more in the Bronx.

With Alonso clearly not the player Kay wants to see in pinstripes, he presented a different plan B. To be completely honest, it’s hard to defend him.

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“The Cardinals are cleaning house. Now he has a no-trade clause, but I spoke with Nolan Arenado. He’s a baseball guy. He understands what works, what’s important, the history of Thursday I would go to the Cardinals and here it goes: “You eat $12-15 million of the $31 million he’s owed over the next two years, we’ll take Nolan Arenado.”

Nolan Arenado is the backup plan? Really? If it was a few years ago, sure, but now? How does this make sense?

Arenado was once one of the game’s elite players, but he’s just not that guy anymore. Like Alonso, he’s coming off arguably his worst season, which saw him slash .272/.325/.394 with 16 homers and 71 RBIs in 152 games. He still hits for a decent average and is still a good defender, but he’s no longer the Platinum Glove-level defender he once was, and his elite power is mostly gone as well. He hit 16 home runs in a full season, almost 20 fewer than Alonso. His 101 OPS+ was 22 points lower than Alonso’s, even though Alonso was playing at a higher level. baseball stadium suitable for pitchers half the time.

Kay cited Alonso as being a bad rough fit as to why he wouldn’t make sense for the Yankees. That may be true, but what does Arenado have that Alonso doesn’t? It’s not like Arenado is a left-handed hitter who would be a good fit at Yankee Stadium. Actually. Arenado’s traction rate (44.2 percent) was higher than Alonso’s (41.6 percent) according to Baseball Savant. All of Arenado’s homers were retired, while Alonso, in the regular season and especially in the playoffs, used right field more.

Also according to Baseball Savant, Arenado was expected to hit 12 homers at Yankee Stadium last season, four fewer than the 16 he ended up hitting. In comparison, Alonso had 36 expected home runs at Yankee Stadium, two more than his 34 home runs.

Passing on Alonso is great, but what’s the appeal behind Arenado, who has three years and $52 million remaining on his contract? It will be cheaper financially, but the St. Louis Cardinals won’t just hand it to the Yankees, especially if they have to eat money like Kay suggests. The Yankees are expected to make a trade, while also asking Arenado to accept a deal to come to the Bronx.

There are so many players, whether through free agency or via trade, who make more sense than Arenado as a backup plan for the Yankees. He’s a big name, and it would be fun to see him in pinstripes with a chance to win, but it wouldn’t make the Yankees much better at this point in his career. If the backup plan isn’t Alonso’s, hopefully it’s something better than Arenado.