Yankees don't have to meet with Juan Soto, they just have to pay him more than the Mets (or anyone else)

Short of delivering a monster check, it was unclear what the Yankees’ meeting with Juan Soto — reportedly scheduled for Monday somewhere in the vicinity of his agent Scott Boras’ Newport Beach, California, compound — was supposed to accomplish.

Soto had just spent nine months in the Yankees’ employ, from the first pitch of the Grapefruit League through the final out of the World Series. Neither side had any illusions about Soto being more than a $31 million rental player, even though Hal Steinbrenner did try to engage him in midyear contract discussions that were diplomatically pushed aside.

But Soto’s season wearing pinstripes should have supplied him with a sufficient taste of the Yankee Experience, and that far exceeded what the other teams — including the crosstown Mets — could provide during any multimedia presentation. The only question that Steinbrenner & Co. failed to answer during Soto’s Bronx tenure was how much they were willing to pony up for the so-called “generational talent,” whose free-agent timing was as impeccable as his eye for the strike zone.

That’s the bottom line for all of Soto’s suitors, and showing up in SoCal without the willingness to fork over a record contract was a pointless exercise — aside from being used as a prop for Boras’ negotiations or maybe displaying some rah-rah winter energy for your fan base. Earlier this month, Boras already gave us the song-and-dance about needing to hear firsthand an owner’s commitment to winning, but any team prepared to give his client upwards of $600 million surely would check that box in Soto’s camp.

“It fits them because it’s a great business investment,” Boras said during the GM meetings earlier this month. “So apart from budgets and how they look at things, you can see that getting an opportunity to acquire a player at this age, with this skill, with this character, with this experience, that they understand the surplus value of it . . . If you go through history, how many times has baseball offered this opportunity?”

Boras didn’t sound like someone anxious to hear a sales pitch from team envoys around the league — he’s the guy with something precious to sell. Knowing that, everything comes down to the bidding war, and ultimately the highest price. If this wasn’t just about the money, what else would the Yankees possibly have to convey to Soto?

Not only did GM Brian Cashman gut the top levels of his pitching future to acquire Soto last December from the Padres, the Yankees immediately gave him both the position and lineup spot of their $360 million captain Aaron Judge. By doing so, they uniquely set up Soto for a career walk year, hitting him in front of Judge, who was a Triple Crown threat en route to what almost certainly will be his second MVP when the award is announced Thursday night.

Then to have the Yankees make the World Series for the first time since 2009, with Soto of course playing a starring role on that stage? Boras couldn’t have scripted it any better himself. The Yankees have been a virtual lock to make the playoffs longer than Soto has been alive — missing the postseason only five times over the past three decades — and Steinbrenner has routinely been among MLB’s top spenders, checking in at No. 3 this past year with a franchise-record $313 million payroll.

From a marketing standpoint, there is no bigger brand in baseball than the Yankees, and if Soto returns, they’ll again be a World Series favorite (with some strategic acquisitions this winter as well). It turned out to be a great business partnership this past season, as the Yankees ranked second in average attendance (41,896), their highest total since 2018.

The Soto Effect was real for the Yankees, both on-field and at the box office, so you have to figure Boras was well-versed in those details during his meeting with them. Just how important it was financially to Steinbrenner will only be truly reflected in the Yankees’ offer to Soto. And no one knows just how far Hal is prepared to go, especially with MLB’s richest owner, Steve Cohen, waiting to possibly trump the Yankees’ best and final.

“We’ll put our best foot forward there,” Cashman said earlier this month.

The Red Sox and Blue Jays also reportedly met with Soto’s camp, but it’s hard to envision him signing with either of the Yankees’ inferior AL East rivals. The clear and present danger to Steinbrenner is Cohen’s Mets, who have plenty of holes to fill after losing nearly half their ’24 roster to free agency — but also the billions to beat the Yankees at the money game. And that’s how this Soto Derby is being played. It’s checkbook warfare, and if Soto can’t reach Shohei Ohtani’s record 10-year, $700 million deal, he’ll push to get as close as possible.

“Juan Soto wants ownership that he knows is going to support an opportunity to win annually,” Boras said.

That’s never a question with the Yankees. Neither is anything else about the Bronx, considering that was Soto’s home office for the bulk of this past year. There’s only one thing that Steinbrenner has to answer for Soto, and that’s going to involve how big the check is going to be. When it comes to the Yankees, what else is there left to say?

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

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.