With the Juan Soto sweepstakes officially underway, the Yankees are finalizing plans for a face-to-face meeting with the slugger and super agent Scott Boras.
The meeting will take place on Monday in Newport Beach, California, and owner Hal Steinbrenner, general manager Brian Cashman, and manager Aaron Boone intend to emphasize the Yankees’ sales pitch.
The Yankees have the closest, most recent relationship with Soto of any of the other teams he is rumored to be considering, including the Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and maybe the Dodgers.
Steinbrenner and his team will also emphasize another benefit.
“It’s the idea of pairing up with (Aaron) Judge and going to the playoffs almost every year,” one source familiar with the Yankees’ approach explained.
The Yankees will remind Soto that he advanced to the World Series in his debut season in pinstripes. Despite the heartbreaking loss to the Dodgers, Soto and Judge combined to form MLB’s most formidable regular-season combo.
Still, the Yankees don’t believe Soto can be influenced solely by words. Although he got along well with teammates and was especially appreciative of Judge, Soto is focused on Steinbrenner’s money.
The bidding war appears to be a doozy.
However, unlike prior off-seasons when Boras would drag out discussions to milk the market for every last dollar, the tour will most likely be limited to one round.
Based on Boras’ failed methods last year, another MLB executive predicted that “a decision will be made fairly quickly.”
Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell, his two most important customers, were held out until late March and paid a high price. Snell did not join with the Giants until March 19 and had a 9.51 ERA in the first half of the season.
Montgomery waited even longer, hoping for a five-year agreement. He instead agreed to a one-year contract with Arizona on March 27. The left-hander, who intended to sign with the Red Sox, dismissed Boras two weeks later.
Boras has other well-known clients waiting on the runway this season, including Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, and Snell, who chose not to compete in San Francisco. None of them can start shopping until Soto determines the market.
As a result, analysts predict Soto and Boras will select a candidate by the first or second week of December.
That doesn’t give the Yankees much time to evaluate the competition. Steinbrenner will need to negotiate hard from the beginning.
He is said to be “all in” on Soto, according to one source. However, there is no certainty that the Yankees will be the top bidder.
To the contrary, Steinbrenner expects Mets owner Steve Cohen to offer Soto the most lucrative contract — both in terms of money and length of commitment.
Cohen sat down with Soto and Boras on Saturday. According to the New York Post, the meeting went “extremely well” and could have positioned the Mets as early front-runners.
No doubt, Cohen, who has a portfolio worth more than $14 billion, has stated unequivocally that Soto will be the richest player in MLB history while playing for the Mets. The owner, who stated in a recent interview, “I don’t care about the cost side …that’s why I bought the team” might argue for the franchise’s future success.
The Mets had a great finish last year, defeating the Brewers and Phillies in the first two rounds of the playoffs before taking the Dodgers to six games in the NLCS. All of this is a wild card entry.
The Mets may reasonably claim they are one player away from being a National League powerhouse.
It’s a strong argument, putting more pressure on Steinbrenner to market the Yankees’ strengths.
He may acknowledge that the Mets surprised the NL in 2024, but their path to the World Series is still more difficult than the Bombers’.
The Dodgers, after all, are baseball’s best club. They appear to be a long-term impediment for any National League foe, including the Mets.
Last year, however, the Yankees were able to take advantage of a weak American League field. If Steinbrenner can add another starter, such as Corbin Burnes, as a co-ace alongside Gerrit Cole, the Yankees will be favorites to win the AL pennant again.
The question is whether Soto would accept the tradeoff: less money from Steinbrenner in exchange for a better chance at a ring.
It would be a no-brainer if the young Boss made the same pitch to Judge, who grew up in the Yankees’ system. However, Soto has no strong attachment to the franchise.
He wants to win because it is vital for his legacy. But Soto also wants the $700 million deal that Boras thinks he can get.
