This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here.. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

If the Yankees’ shift from “Plan A” to “Plan B” seemed to take place overnight, it’s because they had plenty of time to prepare. Juan Soto’s decision had been expected about 10 days earlier, according to general manager Brian Cashman, a span that the club used to prepare its break-in-case-of-emergency glass.

So when Soto took the Mets’ years and dollars, Cashman and his baseball operations staff were ready to pull Max Fried, Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger off the board in short order.

There have been voices in the media world to suggest those moves may have better prepared the Yanks for a 2025 World Series run than re-signing Soto alone might have; Cashman isn’t ready to go there, saying that he still has more work to do.

“Last year’s team was the American League champion and the American League East champion. This year’s team has done nothing,” Cashman said. “So until we show it out on the field -- last year’s version got us to the World Series. That’s what we’re chasing. We’re defending our [AL] title with a whole different group.”

One addition who might be a perfect fit
Christian Walker would have been ideal, but with the Astros taking him off the board, the Yankees turned their attention to Paul Goldschmidt. The 2022 National League MVP, Goldschmidt has seen his offensive numbers dip since then, posting a .245/.302/.414 slash line (98 OPS+) with the Cardinals last year.

Yet even with that, Goldschmidt produced 33 doubles, 22 homers and 65 RBIs in 154 games -- by comparison, every Yankees first baseman last year combined for a .216/.284/.335 slash line, with 23 doubles, 16 homers and 75 RBIs. Now entering his age-37 season, Goldschmidt provides another power presence and reliable defense on a short-term basis. An added bonus: he might entice Nolan Arenado to approve a trade to the Yankees.

One player poised to have a breakout season
Austin Wells completed his first full big league campaign as an AL Rookie of the Year Award finalist, finishing third behind teammate Luis Gil and the Orioles’ Colton Cowser. As he heads into 2025, Wells is expected to carry duties as the Yanks’ everyday catcher.

That provides an opportunity to build upon a performance that saw him collect 18 doubles, 13 homers and 55 RBIs in 115 games while slashing .229/.322/.395 (103 OPS+). Wells’ offense was his calling card in the Minors, and he showed glimpses of making adjustments at the big league level last year.

One prospect to watch in 2025
Chase Hampton was one of the prospects who managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner expressed reluctance to discuss in trades last spring, along with outfielder Spencer Jones and right-hander Will Warren.

• MLB Pipeline's top 30 Yankees prospects

Hampton’s season never truly got off the ground, as he sustained a right elbow injury during Spring Training that delayed his season debut until July, then was sidelined by a lower body injury in August. During the Winter Meetings, Cashman brought up Hampton unprompted, saying, “One of the guys no one talks about anymore is Hampton, who was hurt last year. He’s healthy again.”

One prediction for the new year
Back to that question Cashman was asked during the press conference in New York -- are the Yankees better off with Fried, Williams and Bellinger than they would be with Soto? The answer is … a soft maybe, depending on how the rest of the winter goes. Clearly their preference was to keep Soto, but at least one of those three additions wouldn’t be a Yankee today if Soto had stayed.

“We’re in December, so I always caution it with that,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to go do the work. But I feel like the winter to this point has been a good one.”

So here’s the prediction -- in terms of wins and losses, yes, the 2025 Yankees will be better than the ’24 edition, which took the AL East with a 94-win showing. Consider that Clay Holmes led the Majors with 13 blown saves; if we put half of those back in the win column, as Williams might have done, the Yankees could have been a 100-victory team.

“Things still have to break right for you,” Boone said. “You have to have good fortune, good health, and you’ve got to go do the work. You don’t just throw your gloves out there. I’m excited as I sit here right now about what I believe the potential of our club can be. We’ll see what the finished product is when we go down to Tampa [in February].”