Rumblings emerged on Monday indicating that Juan Soto will leave the New York Yankees to join the New York Mets in free agency for reasons other than the fact that the Mets outbid the Yankees for the All-Star outfielder.
For a piece published Tuesday morning, Bob Klapisch of NJ Advance Media shared that one unnamed “industry observer” said that Soto “just didn’t want to be a Yankee. Bottom line.” Additionally, an individual “close to Soto’s camp” noted there are two big reasons Soto will feature for the Mets beginning next spring.
“The first, of course, was money,” Klapisch explained. “No one produced more cash than [Mets owner Steve] Cohen. The second reason was just as important. Soto’s immediate family, specifically his mother Belkis Pacheco, appeared to have a soft spot for Cohen and his wife, Alex.”
The 15-year, $765M contract Soto received from Cohen could reportedly exceed $800M total and includes a $75M signing bonus, an opt-out after five years and no deferred money. To compare, Steinbrenner’s final offer was $760M over 16 years.
It was also reported on Monday that Soto became upset early last season after “an overzealous Yankees security guy…disallowed a family member and his chef/driver from certain areas.” Meanwhile, Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports wrote that “Cohen’s players routinely voice how much they love playing for the Mets because it feels like a family.”
There’s more. Jon Heyman of the New York Post confirmed that Cohen’s winning offer included a suite for the Soto family at Citi Field. Steinbrenner allegedly “wouldn’t budge on the suite” because current team captain Aaron Judge and Yankees legend Derek Jeter have previously paid for their suites.
“With Soto’s mother in the Mets’ camp,” Klapisch said, “it was harder for the slugger to listen to the pleas of others who felt the Yankees were still the better fit.”
The Yankees acquired Soto in December 2023 via a trade with the San Diego Padres, and it became clear before the start of this past season that he would always test the open market after the World Series. People within the Yankees now seemingly want to paint Soto as a mercenary who represented the club well during the 2024 campaign but was never obsessed with playing for the storied club beyond the expiration of his contract.
“There’s always been a difference between the guys who came here just for the money and the ones who really wanted to be a Yankee,” an unnamed member of the Yankees organization told Klapisch. “Jeter never wanted to play anywhere else. Same with Judge. Even A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) loved being a Yankee. But not Soto. In the end, it didn’t matter to him one way or another.”
Cohen probably won’t care if Soto “loves” playing for the Mets as long as the 26-year-old helps the franchise win at least one World Series title over the next decade.
