New York Yankees Infielder Speaks Highly of Former Superstar Teammate

The New York Yankees lineup is going to look a lot different in 2025 than it did when they were defeated in the World Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers in October.

Multiple starters from that team have moved on in free agency, but the biggest loss is undoubtedly superstar right fielder Juan Soto.

He signed the largest contract in sports history with the New York Mets, as the two sides agreed to a 15-year, $765 million deal in free agency.

His departure created a massive hole in the lineup. It will take a complete team effort to replace what he brought to the field from a production and leadership perspective.

The players who are returning are confident in what they have on the roster but have acknowledged just how much Soto will be missed.

On Monday, Anthony Volpe spoke about his former teammate, sharing some major praise for everything that he did not only to help the team win but also what he did personally for the young shortstop.

"Everything about him will be missed. I think that's not taking anything away from what we have this year, it's just respect to him and all the stuff he's able to help me and help our team with,” Volpe said, via Yankees Videos on X.

"Everything about him will be missed. I think that's not taking anything away from what we have this year, it's just respect to him and all the stuff he's able to help me and help our team with."

Anthony Volpe was asked about Juan Soto: pic.twitter.com/ZSRr29sXbR
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) February 17, 2025

Soto was a driving force behind the Yankees winning the American League pennant for the first time since 2009.

His production during the regular season was MVP-worthy, as he finished in third. His teammate, Aaron Judge, took home the award and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals finished second.

Soto recorded a slash line of .288/.419/.569 in 157 games played and 713 plate appearances. Career highs were recorded in WAR (7.9), runs (128), hits (166) and home runs (41). He finished one shy of matching career highs in doubles (31) and RBI (109).

The cherry on top was that he drew more walks than times he struck out for the sixth consecutive campaign.

Most importantly, in the eyes of many New York fans, he stepped up when the lights were brightest in the postseason.

In 14 games and 64 plate appearances, he recorded an incredible .327/.469/.633 slash line with four home runs, three doubles and nine RBI. He drew 14 walks compared to only nine strikeouts as well.

Tasked with replacing that production will be Cody Bellinger, Jasson Dominguez and Paul Goldschmidt.

They are three of the new faces in the lineup this year, as second baseman Gleyber Torres, left fielder Alex Verdugo and first baseman Anthony Rizzo aren’t returning in 2025 along with Soto.

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