The Mets have been anticipated to line up as considered one of Juan Soto’s main suitors all winter, and after reaching out to agent Scott Boras on day one of many offseason, proprietor Steve Cohen is now set for an in-person go to with Soto and his agent in Southern California subsequent week, stories Mike Puma of the New York Put up. After all, the Boras Company additionally represents key free brokers like Pete Alonso, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, Blake Snell, Sean Manaea, Yusei Kikuchi and Ha-Seong Kim. Whether or not Cohen and Boras will focus on any of these names — and whether or not any of these gamers will drop in for a sit-down with Cohen as effectively — stays unclear.
Little must be stated concerning the potential match for Soto in Queens. He’s among the many sport’s easiest gamers and, as a free agent who’ll play subsequent season at 26, he’s arguably essentially the most coveted free agent since Alex Rodriguez reached the open market on the similar age again in 2000. One may argue Shohei Ohtani as effectively, in fact, however Ohtani hit the market at 29 and within the aftermath of an elbow surgical procedure that might preserve him off the mound or a full season.
The Mets, in the meantime, have one departing free agent outfielder (middle fielder Harrison Bader), one other who’s a free agent after subsequent season (Starling Marte) and greater than $100MM in free agent salaries coming off the books. Even with a full outfield, the Mets would possible be making a robust push for Soto. No workforce in MLB has a bigger hole between their projected 2025 payroll and their 2024 payroll ranges, nor does any workforce have a bigger hole between their projected 2025 payroll and their all-time franchise-record payroll. Past that, Cohen is extensively generally known as the wealthiest proprietor within the league. He’s a lifelong Mets fan who bought the membership as one thing of a ardour venture, and he instantly confirmed a willingness to place forth a number of the largest payrolls of any workforce in main league historical past. The newly applied fourth tier of luxurious penalization is usually colloquially known as the “Cohen tax.”
All that stated, whereas an in-person assembly between the 2 events is clearly of some significance, it’s not any indicator that there’s main traction towards a deal. Soto has heard from greater than a 3rd of the league, with even small-market golf equipment just like the Rays reportedly doing their due diligence. It stands to motive that any membership with critical curiosity goes to have an possession assembly with Soto and Boras.
Yankees proprietor Hal Steinbrenner reportedly had a non-public assembly with Soto over the summer time. The Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays Nationals and others have all been talked about as potential touchdown spots. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com paints a reunion between Soto and his unique group as one thing of an extended shot, however the Nats will presumably at the least be on the periphery. Soto is such an unusual free agent archetype that groups who’d usually by no means play for a free agent of this caliber may effectively throw their proverbial hats into the ring. A fast and decisive free agent course of that’s resolved in mid-November feels fairly unlikely.
For the Mets, Yankees and different critical bidders, nonetheless, getting an early really feel for the market shall be paramount. A lot of any workforce’s offseason funds can be allotted to a Soto signing that his touchdown place — no matter the place it’s — can have a right away ripple impact on the place these offseason {dollars} are spent. It wouldn’t be in any respect shocking if different homeowners, presidents of baseball operations, basic managers, and so on. traveled to fulfill with Soto and Boras within the subsequent week or two, because the Boras Company feels out the early levels of curiosity and units expectations for what most onlookers anticipate to be a historic contract — one that might set new requirements by way of web current worth and common annual worth (when factoring in for the deferrals on Ohtani’s contract).
And, so far as evaluating Soto’s free company to that of Ohtani, Boras unsurprisingly dismissed any such comparisons at this week’s GM Conferences and sought to place Soto in a tier unto himself. Through Puma, Boras had this to say concerning the comparability:
“I don’t assume Ohtani has a lot to do with Juan Soto in any respect. It’s not one thing we focus on or take into account. Juan Soto is in an age class that separates him from all. So comparability is just not whenever you do these items for these younger gamers.”
