Mets or Yankees? Juan Soto was playing hardball with the money all along
Juan Soto talks with agent Scott Boras before Game 1 of the World Series between the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/Julio Cortez
DALLAS — On Thursday, when he’s finally unveiled at Citi Field, Juan Soto can settle the debate himself, once and for all.
Why pick the Mets over the Yankees?
After months enduring the most speculated free-agent decision since LeBron took his talents to South Beach, we need to hear the answer from Soto. The mind-blowing money was close enough that Soto could have spent the rest of his career in either the Bronx or Flushing. Both should be winning franchises for at least the next decade or so.
And yet Soto chose the Mets, forever changing the perception and power dynamic of New York baseball. No longer does the little brother reside in Queens.
“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said Wednesday in a statement. “Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree.”
Ever since Soto was traded to the Bronx a year ago, anyone familiar with the name tried to guess where the highly-coveted free agent would wind up.
Most said the Yankees, due to the fact that Soto seemed built for the Bronx, flourished in front of Aaron Judge, money wasn’t going to be an issue and, well, it’s the Yankees, baseball’s gold standard for the past century.
As for the upstart Mets, they had Cohen’s $21 billion fortune, a new front office, a fun Grimace-fueled vibe and were positioning themselves as a real threat to the Yankees’ big-brother status, especially after last October’s captivating NLCS run.
Objectively, this was a fight the Yankees were used to winning, and they figured to have the advantage of Soto’s ninth-month audition in pinstripes. The Mets? Not only were they run by the sport’s richest owner, Cohen wasn’t afraid to brandish his billions like a weapon, and that’s what Hal Steinbrenner feared most.
Steinbrenner was so scared of Cohen’s financial might that he did something he never does — attempt to negotiate an extension in the middle of the season so that Soto never reached the open market. Hal correctly assumed that his odds plummeted once Cohen got into the Soto tent, and that’s what everyone watched play out the past five weeks.
In the end, it was Cohen who prevailed after a furious bidding war that was decided Sunday night when Soto accepted the Mets’ 15-year, $765 million offer. Steinbrenner earned the dubious distinction of being the first owner in baseball history to extend a 16-year, $760 million package and stunningly come away empty-handed.
So what did we learn from Soto’s choice? That the Mets are the future of New York baseball and the Yankees are an empire in decline? If we are to believe some of the reported details from these negotiations, Soto was swayed by a free luxury suite at Citi Field as compared to one in the Bronx he had to pay for. Or Soto soured on the Yankees because his family was treated rudely by the Yankees’ security detail. Or Cohen’s wife Alex helped coax Soto to Flushing by presenting a more family atmosphere around the Mets.
How much, if at all, did these factors weigh into Soto’s selection process? Until Soto steps onto the podium Thursday, and slips on his Mets’ jersey, it’s impossible to determine that for sure. We do know this, however: Soto came off as the perfect Scott Boras client in his six-year buildup to free agency — laser-focused on pursuing every last dime while rebuffing attempts by three teams to engage him in extension talks.
So what did Soto do? He took the highest offer. There’s no need to apologize for that, or drum up ulterior motives. What’s the point? We assumed that if the money was close — as it turned out to be — and Soto would return to the Yankees, based on the worldwide brand, their time-tested winning tradition and his successful test run in the Bronx.
Instead, Soto went with a Mets’ offer that was $5 million better than the Yankees in total guaranteed payout, featured a $51 million AAV ($3.5M higher) and a $75 million signing bonus ($15M greater). It’s not complicated. Talk of luxury suites and family-friendly staff sound like nice perks, but sweeteners shouldn’t amount to much when your compensation package already is approaching $1 billion.
Cohen didn’t just want Soto. He had to have him in a Mets uniform. And that’s the level of commitment that drove Soto’s auction into the stratosphere. What else could the Yankees do? Steinbrenner offered a sum that was beyond his wildest imagination — and well past Brian Cashman’s efforts to pump the brakes — but the Yankees still fell short.
Before heading back to New York, Cashman was asked Wednesday morning about the Yankees’ luxury suite policy and Soto’s reported irritation with the team’s security detail. The GM shrugged, then brought up his 2008 recruitment of CC Sabathia, a process that involved bolting from the winter meetings in Las Vegas for an 11th-hour visit to the free-agent lefty at his Bay Area home.
Cashman recalled how people attached extra significance to that trip, suggesting it sealed the deal with Sabathia. The GM viewed that whole thing differently.
“Truth of the matter is,” Cashman said, “I hit him over the head with a big bunch of cash.”
Nearly two decades later, that still remains the most effective method to win a franchise-changing free agent. Only now it’s the Mets using money to come out on top and the Yankees looking to regroup in the aftermath. And Soto has become the instrument of that seismic shift in New York baseball, starting with Thursday’s introduction on 41 Seaver Way.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.