Over the past week, many reports have mentioned that New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has the financial power to outbid all other teams, including New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, to sign All-Star outfielder Juan Soto in free agency.
However, on Wednesday, MLB insider Andy Martino from SNY shared a scenario where Cohen might not go all-in on Soto.
“Last fall,” Martino explained, “when star free-agent manager Craig Counsell seemed open about using the Mets to increase his own value, the Mets caught onto this and actually made a lower offer to Counsell, even less than the Brewers’ offer.
In other words, the upcoming meetings between the Mets and Soto will be key in deciding if the Mets will actually pursue Soto aggressively. They won’t let themselves be used.”
Counsell was the Brewers’ manager when David Stearns, now the Mets’ president of baseball operations, worked in Milwaukee. Many expected Counsell to join the Mets last offseason, but he instead signed a record-breaking five-year, $40 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.
Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, told reporters on Wednesday that Soto, at 26 years old, is looking to get paid but also wants to be with an ownership group that is committed to winning every year.
Cohen has shown that kind of commitment over the years, but Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media noted Thursday that “some baseball people” believe Stearns would rather spread out his budget and could convince Cohen that this approach is smarter.
On Wednesday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post also named five possible teams outside of New York that could land Soto.
Martino added, “I don’t get the sense the Mets believe their offseason will only be considered a success if they sign Soto. Cohen didn’t hire David Stearns just to chase big stars; he hired him because Stearns is good at finding value on the market. There are many ways the Mets’ front office can approach this offseason.”
While Boras made it clear that Soto wants to be paid, it seems the Mets want to make sure they know whether Soto is seriously considering Queens as a destination or if he is simply using the Mets to drive up his value before possibly returning to the Yankees after a strong season in the Bronx.
