MLB
Derek Jeter Exclusive: Yankees ‘Have Improved As a Whole’ Despite Juan Soto Departure

MIAMI — Despite losing four-time All-Star Juan Soto to the Mets in the offseason, Yankees legend Derek Jeter believes his former team has “improved as a whole” this offseason.
Jeter knows better than anyone what it takes to be a champion. The former longtime captain of the franchise won five World Series with the Yankees and led them to their last championship back in 2009.
The Yankees are coming off of their first World Series appearance since then, coming up short in a five-game series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
While Soto headed to Flushing Meadows, the Yankees reloaded with major additions in All-Stars Max Fried, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt.
”They did a good job,” Jeter told Sportscasting in an exclusive interview from the Reserve Cup Series, a three-day padel tournament in Miami. “You always want to try to improve your team. I’m sure you ask anyone in the organization, they have improved as a whole. The great thing about playing for the Yankees is pretty much every season you have an opportunity to get to the postseason.
“And they made it to the World Series last year,” Jeter continues to say. “Obviously, they fell a little bit short. But now they’re retooling and getting ready for this season.”
Jeter: Yankees Must Be Hottest Team In October
The Bronx Bombers experienced their best season since 2009, led by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge. The 6-foot-7 Judge is coming off of the best season of his career, setting career-highs in RBI’s, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.
Adding one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game in Fried — his $218 million contract is the largest for a left-handed pitcher in MLB history — and former MVP’s in Bellinger and Goldschmidt could lead to an even better season for the Yankees.
As Jeter says, their roster is “improved” compared to last season. Furthermore, they’re not as top-heavy and as reliant on Judge as they’ve been in previous seasons.
When asked the biggest thing the Yankees need to improve on, Jeter kept it simple — they need to win three more games. New York came up three games short in their World Series loss to Los Angeles.
”You gotta find a way to win three more games,” says Jeter. “That’s what you need to do. I mean, you’re in the World Series and I always say that the best teams make it and the hottest team wins. You have to get hot at the right time.”
Jeter: Yankees’ Depth Will Be Key Factor During Grueling Season
Although many observers regard the Yankees as having the best offseason of any MLB team, they still have to get through the powerhouse Dodgers, which feature the best player in the game in Shohei Ohtani along with Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki.
Jeter isn’t a fan of “projections.” The 14-time All-Star says the Yankees are in a “good spot” but says there’s a lot of factors that play a role in how a team’s season turns out.
“I don’t know, I don’t pay much attention to projections,” says Jeter when asked if the Yankees project better as a World Series contender. “ Every year you start off the season and the team you have on the first day of spring training is not really the same team you have at the end of the year. That’s the thing with baseball — it’s 162 games. There’s injuries people have to deal with.”
Jeter once again stresses how injuries play a role in a team’s fortunes and result at the end of the year.
“It’s the strongest organizations that win,” says Jeter. “It’s not necessarily the strongest roster at the major league level because there’s injuries and people come and people go. I think right now, the Yankees are in a good spot, just like a few other teams.”
While the Yankees may look better on paper, Jeter isn’t ready to predict another World Series appearance or a title in 2025. In fact, he’s not ready to give a World Series prediction at all, citing that it’s way too early to predict such things.
”My World Series pick — you gotta wait until the rosters are set,” says Jeter. “There’s still a lot of things going on, man. So it’s too early for that.”