Kevin Long remembers the concern he heard on the telephone in the voice of New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. The Yankees were close to pulling off a December deal with the San Diego Padres to acquire outfielder Juan Soto. Long says Cashman called him as part of due diligence. He knew Long, a former Yankees hitting coach, was Soto’s hitting coach with the Washington Nationals from 2018–21, before Long joined the Philadelphia Phillies.
“He said, ‘We can’t be wrong about this one!’ ” Long says. “We’ve got to be right about this!’”
The Yankees were coming off an 82–80 season, their worst season in 31 years while missing the playoffs for the fourth time in 11 years. Recent big-name acquisitions Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodón, Josh Donaldson and Frankie Montas returned a combined WAR of –1.6 while earning $84 million. The pressure was on to get this blockbuster right.
