Never in the history of New York baseball had the Yankees been outbid by the Mets, of all teams, for a premier free-agent talent who was given a choice to choose a home between the Big Apple clubs.
Such a decision was once a laughable no-brainer: The Yankees, the class of Major League Baseball, or the little-brother, penny-pinching Mets?
Not anymore.
Steve Cohen has led a revolution in Queens thanks to his deep pockets and his ability to sell this franchise as a can’t-miss landing spot for some of the game’s very best players. Now, he has sent a message to all of Major League Baseball that his Mets are not to be trifled with.
It is what enabled him to secure Francisco Lindor for the long term after acquiring him from Cleveland. Now, it has earned him the biggest prize of all in Juan Soto.
The 26-year-old free-agent superstar, who hit 41 home runs with the Yankees, finished third in the AL MVP voting with the Yankees, won a pennant, and played in the World Series with the Yankees all this year, has decided to sign with the Mets — something baseball fans would have never imagined five years ago — on a 15-year, $765 million deal that includes an opt-out after five years, no deferred money, and a $75 million signing bonus.
BREAKING: Juan Soto signing with Mets on record-breaking $765 million contract
It is the richest contract in North American sports history and one that is expected to catapult the Mets to new heights beginning in 2025. However, president of baseball operations David Stearns needs to do more to fill out the remainder of the roster and answer the last few big questions that linger above this roster. That includes the future of slugging first baseman Pete Alonso, who might find the signing of Soto too alluring to pass up and do everything he can to commit his long-term future to the organization he came up with.
Regardless, the Mets have as imposing a top-of-the-lineup as anyone in baseball now, with Soto likely to bat in the No. 2 spot behind Francisco Lindor, who finished second in the NL MVP voting this season only behind Los Angeles Dodgers talisman Shohei Ohtani.
Simply saying Soto is a star that boosts the Mets to a different stratosphere does not do the magnitude of this deal justice. The numbers help paint a full picture — one that shows the kind of transcendental talent that will don blue and orange for quite a while.
Soto’s 201 home runs through his age 25 season are more than Ken Griffey Jr., Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds hit through their age 25 seasons.
His .953 OPS is better than Alex Rodriguez’s, Frank Robinson’s, Willie McCovey’s, and Reggie Jackon’s through their age-25 seasons.
This is a talent on the fast track to the Hall of Fame, the kind of talent that always befits the Yankees more than anyone in baseball.
But this is not your grandfather’s game, nor is it your father’s. There has been a monumental shift in New York’s baseball landscape, which has just tilted drastically toward Queens.
