Report: Mets' Cohen to meet with Soto, Boras next week
Steve Cohen is ready to make his pitch to Juan Soto.
The New York Mets owner will meet with the free-agent superstar and his agent Scott Boras in Southern California next week, sources told Mike Puma of the New York Post.
The discussions will be the first between Soto and the Mets, who appear to be preparing to lure the outfielder to Queens after he spent one season across town with the rival Yankees.
Soto is said to be seeking what could be the biggest contract in MLB history. But that doesn't seem to scare Cohen, the richest owner in baseball. He has spent lavishly since purchasing the Mets four years ago. The Mets also have over $90 million in dead money coming off the books this winter, opening salary space for a team that fielded the majors' highest payroll in 2024.
At least seven clubs, including the Mets, Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays, have reportedly reached out to Boras about Soto. However, the overwhelming belief is that the two New York teams are the front-runners.
Soto and Boras are expected to sit down with other team owners over the next few weeks. It's not yet known if one of those meetings will be with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, according to Puma. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said this week that, while he's already touched base with Boras and will continue to do so, Steinbrenner might be less involved than other owners due to the player's familiarity with the organization.
"We're more than willing to meet as many times as he would like to meet," Cashman said Tuesday, per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. "But I think Scott Boras is going to talk to Juan to get a feel as to whether he felt it was necessary for us to have as (much) time in person with him as other clubs because he knows us."
Soto, 26, hit .288/.419/.569 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs, and an AL-high 128 runs scored in his first season with the Yankees. Since his rookie season of 2018, only one position player - Aaron Judge - has accrued more fWAR than Soto.