Mets owner Steve Cohen led a contingent of high-ranking club officials to meet with coveted free agent superstar Juan Soto on Saturday in Orange County, Calif., The Post has learned.
All signs suggest the meeting went extremely well, and the Mets remain viewed as one of the favorites for the services of the 26-year-old Soto, who helped the Yankees reach the World Series in his initial season in The Bronx in 2024 and is the top winter priority of both New York teams. Word is the Mets presentation was a “big production” and “very detailed.”
The high-powered gatherings are being held at an undisclosed location somewhere near Newport Beach, Calif., in a very clandestine manner, so only bits and pieces are getting out. But one person suggested the Mets are “hopeful” — and maybe even optimistic — about their chances to win easily the biggest prize of this free-agent class. Sources say Mets baseball president David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza joined Cohen for the California confab, and are also said to have made a positive impression.
It isn’t known whether official offers are being made at meetings this week, but it is all but certain the slugger will set the record for contract value currently held by Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani (his historically deferred $700 million deal is valued somewhere between $437M and $470M). Soto’s deal could reach $600 million, or possibly even a non-deferred $700 million. The Blue Jays and Red Sox are among other teams to sit down with Soto this week, and the Yankees are due to fly out to California for their meeting.
The Yankees, also considered among the favorites, are scheduled to meet with Soto on Monday. Soto hit 41 home runs and posted a .989 OPS during his season in The Bronx, combining with superstar Aaron Judge to form one of the deadliest hitting tandems in history. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner — who saved Judge in free agency two years ago by matching the Giants’ $360M, nine-year bid — leads a Yankees group that will include general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.
Yankees baseball people are said to be “gung ho” to get this done, and MLB’s highest revenue team certainly should have a solid chance following Soto’s generally positive season in The Bronx. The MLB owners’ meetings begin Tuesday in New York, so the Yankees will presumably be one of the last to meet with Soto, if not the last team. However, it isn’t known whether that’s any sort of advantage.
Though the Yankees are the incumbent, the Mets hold a few edges, starting with Cohen’s considerable wherewithal and his determination to bring a sustainable winner to Queens. The Mets, who’ve had MLB’s highest payroll the past two seasons, also made it to the NLCS this season and appear to be on the upswing.
Cohen is viewed as their biggest edge, as he’s shown a willingness to operate in the red, and is believed to have done so the past couple seasons in an effort to bring a winner to Queens. Additionally, they have $150M coming off their books, which also doesn’t hurt.
The Mets do have several free agents of their own, including their home-grown slugger Pete Alonso and three-fifths of their starting rotation, but there’s no doubt who their priority is now: It’s Soto.
Though Soto has cited winning as one of his main priorities, interested teams aren’t kidding themselves and believe, as is the case with most free agents, the deal may be determinative.
Soto addressed the media after the Game 5 debacle and said that “all 30 teams” will be given a chance. And right now, though the talks are only in the middle innings, it feels like the Mets’ chances are better than most.
