Is this the end for Juan Soto in pinstripes? The heartbreak that could change everything

It's all over for the New York Yankees after a brutal ending to the 2024 World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers became champions, and for Juan Soto it proved to be especially tough to take prompting rumors he might have played his final game for the organization.

After racing into a 5-0 lead at the bottom of the third inning in the Bronx, it seemed as though baseball's most successful team was going to pull the series back to 3-2 and offer Aaron Judge and themselves a lifeline.

But that wasn't what the script had in store. The top of the fifth saw the Dodgers score five times alone before they added two more in the eighth, either side of a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly that brought in Soto for the Yankees' final run of the season as they lost 7-6 and lost the World Series.

After the heartbreaking loss, Soto found himself sat in the Yankees dugout long after the conclusion of the MLB season, as the Dodgers kicked off the celebrations with the prized trophy, seemingly wondering where it all went wrong for the side this postseason.

Could Soto be traded?

The Dominican previously won the World Series in 2019 but nothing is quite like winning it with the Yankees, baseball's most iconic team, and it's clear he was gutted as the chance slipped away, maybe forever.

The 26-year-old has a lot of years ahead of him in the sport and he's now entering free agency, tipped to become the most valuable free agent on the market. That means he could be heading for a huge blockbuster contract.

It might be something the Yankees are unwilling to offer their star left fielder, who smacked 41 home runs in 2024, despite him being highly popular within the team - especially after Shohei Ohtani set a new bar after penning a $70m-per-year deal with the Dodgers, driving the market up.