The Mets have been anticipated to line up as one in all 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, experiences Mike Puma of the New York Put up. In fact, 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 properly — stays unclear.
Little must be mentioned in regards to 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 probably the most coveted free agent since Alex Rodriguez reached the open market on the identical age again in 2000. One might argue Shohei Ohtani as properly, after all, however Ohtani hit the market at 29 and within the aftermath of an elbow surgical procedure that may hold 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 seemingly be making a powerful push for Soto. No crew in MLB has a bigger hole between their projected 2025 payroll and their 2024 payroll ranges, nor does any crew have a bigger hole between their projected 2025 payroll and their all-time franchise-record payroll. Past that, Cohen is broadly 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 challenge, and he instantly confirmed a willingness to place forth a number of the largest payrolls of any crew in main league historical past. The newly carried out fourth tier of luxurious penalization is usually colloquially known as the “Cohen tax.”
All that mentioned, 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 severe curiosity goes to have an possession assembly with Soto and Boras.
Yankees proprietor Hal Steinbrenner reportedly had a personal assembly with Soto over the summer season. 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 not less than 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 might properly 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 severe bidders, nonetheless, getting an early really feel for the market will likely be paramount. A lot of any crew’s offseason price range can be allotted to a Soto signing that his touchdown place — no matter the place it’s — may have an instantaneous 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, normal 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 phases of curiosity and units expectations for what most onlookers count on to be a historic contract — one that would set new requirements when it comes to 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. By way of Puma, Boras had this to say in regards to the comparability:
“I don’t suppose Ohtani has a lot to do with Juan Soto in any respect. It’s not one thing we focus on or think about. Juan Soto is in an age class that separates him from all. So comparability just isn’t once you do this stuff for these younger gamers.”
