The New York Mets’ contingent including owner Steve Cohen, David Stearns, and Francisco Lindor met with superstar free agent Juan Soto on Saturday in Los Angeles, and all early indications are promising for the Queens club.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the meeting went “very well,” which further cements the Mets’ status as one of the favorites to sign Soto, who turned 26 years old when he took the field for Game 1 of the World Series with the Yankees.
Signing Soto out from under the Yankees would be the largest coup ever executed by the Mets on the New York baseball scene, which would be yet another indication of the changing landscape of the clubs’ status in the Big Apple.
Cohen’s status as the richest owner in baseball will do that, though, and he has the funds necessary to outbid anyone for Soto should it get to that. After a season in which he hit 41 home runs in the Bronx, Soto is expected to make at least $600 million on his next contract.
Whether or not the Yankees would be willing to engage the Mets in a bidding war remains to be seen. Owner Hal Steinbrenner has expressed reservations about piling on massive contracts in the past, but talents like Soto do not come around often — and his ALCS-clinching home run in Game 4 against Cleveland prompted even some of his Yankees teammates to beg management to throw a blank check at him.
The Yankees’ quest in re-signing Soto reportedly begins on Monday as they will meet with their right fielder and his agent, Scott Boras.
General manager Brian Cashman did not sound all too hopeful when asked about the prospects of retaining the four-time All-Star last week, which will not inspire a ton of confidence from Yankees fans.
“We certainly have an interest in retaining him and we’ll put our best foot forward there,” Cashman said. “But at the same time, that’ll either lead to us retaining him and signing him back or we’ll be forced to go in a different direction if we can’t.”
The Yankees comically extended a qualifying offer to Soto, which was quickly denied.
