With the Juan Soto sweepstakes inching toward its next steps, the New York Mets appear to be pulling away from the pack.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today on Monday, following conversations with MLB executives, the Mets are the “clear-cut favorite” to sign Soto this offseason.
As things currently stand, this is a four-horse race for Soto between the Mets, the New York Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Boston Red Sox—all of whom have met with Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, in recent weeks.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who also met with Soto, are not considered a serious threat, per Nightengale, while the Philadelphia Phillies have not had any conversations with Boras about Soto.
It is believed that contract offers for Soto could come as early as this week, and with less competition seemingly present, the Mets’ chances are seemingly rising. Club owner Steve Cohen has the deepest pockets in baseball and will not be outbid for Soto if he is, in fact, the Mets’ No. 1 priority this offseason.
While Hal Steinbrenner did his best to thump his chest and declare the Yankees as considerable threats to retain the 26-year-old superstar, Cohen’s net worth is more than four times greater than his.
The Toronto Blue Jays have been in on big-time free agents in the past, most notably Shohei Ohtani last season, but this team is considerably behind the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles and faces a winter next year that features both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette hitting free agency.
The Red Sox are ditching their recent history and returning to their big-spending ways this offseason. Whether that will be enough to coax Soto to go a little further northeast remains to be seen, but they should be heavily involved in other prominent free agents like Corbin Burnes and Willy Adames.
Again, they do not pack the same financial punch as Cohen, nor do they have a team that already appears to be on the cusp of legitimate World Series contention after making an ahead-of-schedule appearance in the NLCS last month.
