So! That happened. Wow.
26-year-old superstar slugger Juan Soto has signed up to be a New York Met all the way into his early-40s.
Full disclosure before I really get into everything here: I am a New York Mets fan, and have been since I left my mother's womb, essentially. The Mets were my first love before any other sports team.
I say that to admit to my biases, but also to say this: I have the fullest context of what being a Mets fan in the offseason is typically like.
Before Steve Cohen completed his purchase of the Mets in 2020, the franchise had previously been owned by the Wilpons; father Fred and son Jeff.
The New York Daily News' back cover following the day Steve Cohen's purchase of the Mets became official.
It wasn't too bad early on in my childhood, rooting for the team. Over the course of said childhood, the Mets had no problem shelling out big cash to big cash-worthy players. The team made plenty of big moves from the late-90s through the 2000s.
They acquired Mike Piazza via trade in 1998. They made even bigger measures in the offseason of 2005, when they added Carlos Delgado via trade and also signed Carlos Beltran to a huge money deal that at that time was the largest contract ever handed out in Mets' franchise history.
In 2009, they signed the top closer in baseball, Francisco Rodriguez, to a good-sized contract. In the following offseason, they signed free-agent slugger Jason Bay to an even greater-sized contract... although we don't talk about Jason Bay's Mets tenure in this household.
Around this same time frame in the late-2000s, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme & scandal came to a head, and, unfortunately for the Mets and their loyal, passionate, loving fanbase, the Wilpons fell victim as Madoff investors, as Fred was named in a lawsuit on behalf of the victims in Madoff's scheme in 2010.
Over the course of the following half-decade, the Mets had to cut payroll down in critical fashion, which led to the team's "big offseason moves" consisting of "Collin Cowgill" and "Chris Young."
No shade to those guys, of course. But bargain-bin signings like those are... unbecoming of a franchise that plays in the biggest market in the world; even with being the "little brothers" to the other, more prestige New York baseball franchise, the New York Yankees.
The Yankees' payroll in the 2010s? $2.4 billion. The Mets' in the same time frame paled in comparison at $1.3 billion.
Despite the Mets' wildly unexpected run to the World Series in 2015, I would describe the feeling around the franchise as a fan in the 2010s as desolate.
If I were an observer on the outside looking in, though: I'm sure I would probably go with laughingstock instead.
This is where we circle back to Steve Cohen's purchase of the club. Sure, a man with a Forbes Top 100 net worth purchasing a financially hamstrung franchise has quite a way of changing fortunes around -- no pun intended.
But, beyond that: Cohen grew up a Mets fan -- as did the man he appointed as President of Baseball Operations in 2023, David Stearns. It's one thing to invest financially into a ballclub. It's another thing to invest in a major way financially on top of already being invested emotionally as a fan of the team.
Because of this, Cohen has full understanding of the context of Mets fans' suffering and also fully understood the stakes of this Juan Soto negotiation.
It was a couple of things at play here. Since Cohen and his heavy pockets bought the Mets, many expected a signature, huge money move for a major star.
Sure; Cohen has certainly spent big, with not only the contract that he handed star shortstop Francisco Lindor; the first move Cohen made as Mets owner (10 yrs, $341M), but also the contracts that Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Starling Marte have signed with the club since Cohen took over as owner (only Marte is still on the roster.)
Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto have long been fond of one another -- now they may be the most dynamic pair of teammates in baseball.
The thing with those aforementioned contracts? They were substantial in terms of cash amount, sure. But they weren't major statement makers. Lindor was acquired via trade and was immediately & sensibly extended.
Scherzer, Verlander and Marte all signed for shorter deals with high average annual value (AAV). Verlander and Scherzer specifically didn't even make it to the end of their Mets' contracts in terms of actually being on the team -- both guys were shipped out at the '23 trade deadline and were essentially being paid off by Cohen to not be on the team.
The vibe of the Mets throughout last offseason was grim for that reason & some others. The team couldn't make major enough offers for free agent superstars like Shohei Ohtani & Yoshinobu Yamamoto because of their Verlander/Scherzer money situation, and missed out on both guys to the Los Angeles Dodgers -- notorious big-money spenders in their own right.
The 2024 Mets' start to the season started off worse than grim; it was downright grotesque. The team started out of the blocks 0-5. They then sat at 24-35 in late-May while simultaneously & frequently embarrassing themselves on the field in front of the home fans. Like I said, grotesque.
In June, the Mets found magic from a few sources.
Whether you credit the Mets' turnaround to their inspired signing of fringe major-league utility infielder Jose Iglesias, who not only made sparks fly on the field but on the music charts as well, as his pop singer alter-ego 'Candelita'...
Jose Iglesias (Candelita's) 'OMG" became a major hit on the charts and also became the 2024 Mets' rallying song in the midst of their remarkable mid-season turnaround.
Or whether you credit that magic to Grimace throwing out the first pitch or other funny oddities that took place at Citi Field this summer...
The Mets rode that magic carpet ride all the way to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series vs the Dodgers. The Mets fell short of the World Series, but the loss was extremely digestable as a Mets fan when you consider that the turnaround wasn't just about wins over losses on the field.
The 2024 Mets' turnaround was a phenomenon; a movement that made the Mets "cool" again.
It seems silly in the grand scheme to say that Juan Soto probably wouldn't have chosen to sign with the Mets if not for a innocuous mid-season signing of Jose Iglesias, who if not for that signing would probably have been on his way out the league as a whole -- but when you really look & consider the impact that 'OMG' had on the vibe of the Mets and their reputation... I don't think moves like that can be overstated or exaggerated.
I land on my most major point here now -- Soto's signing with the Mets is the landscape-altering moment it is NOT JUST because of Cohen's ability to spend & out-spend the "big brother" Yankees with Hal Steinbrenner, son of George, running the show.
As reported by multiple reputable baseball people, the offer that Soto accepted from the Mets -- 15 years, $765M (without incentives) -- wasn't too far off in total value from the Yankees offer (16 years, $760M). That's only about a $3.5M AAV difference between the two final offers -- despite some information that has come out on incentives the Mets offered Soto that are obviously significant:
Obviously, it's about the money in large part. But if the Yankees' offer was that close to the Mets offer, and the Yankees are the heralded, history-rich, respected baseball organization in New York -- NOT the lowly Mets -- you would think that Soto would simply have chosen to remain with the Yanks, especially since he was acquired via trade by them last offseason and helped the team get all the way to the World Series in his lone year with the franchise.
The Yankees had Soto in their building for a full year. I have no doubts they did all they could to sell Soto on staying, given the high price they had to pay via trade to get him to the Bronx. I'm sure the Yankees sold him on playing alongside a top-3 player in baseball in Aaron Judge.
The Soto/Judge pairing in the middle of the Yankees' lineup was certainly a dynamic one, but they fell short of their ultimate goal of a World Series title.
I'm sure they sold Soto on getting his number retired in Monument Park one day, to be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever play for the winningest franchise in professional team sports history.
And, maybe most importantly, I'm certain Yankees brass sold Soto on the Yankees just being a larger brand than the Mets' when it became clear that the crosstown rivals were the Yankees' biggest threat to retaining Soto.
Here's the harsh reality that Yankees fans are coming to grips with now: If all of those things I just mentioned truly, truly mattered to Juan Soto -- like it's mattered to so many players before him that have donned the pinstripes -- he would have simply just re-signed with the Yankees.
But he didn't.
Because the Mets' pitch was better. Because they appealed more to Soto. In all aspects.
It seems sophomoric to say that Soto chose the Mets because the Mets are "cooler" than the Yankees. But there was clearly something about the Mets' culture that appealed to Soto immensely.
There is no doubt to any sensible person that Juan Soto's desire to win is great. I mean, let's be real. He became a World Series champion leading the Washington Nationals (!!) at the ripe age of 21 years old.
You don't achieve that while just having a laissez-faire, "whoop-di-doo" attitude towards baseball. So any criticism of Soto's decision that states he "doesn't care about winning" for leaving the Yankees for the Mets should be dismissed as foolishness.
I'm sure that there are some that are less-than-happy about this huge money signing that the Mets made here that might "break baseball." As a result, I'm sure you'll see a bunch of takes that might seem accurate or sensible on its face from hurt-feeling folk.
Some might compare the Mets' prying of Soto away from the Yankees to that time in 2019 where two of the biggest stars to be had in the NBA at the time, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, stunned the world by signing with the less-heralded Los Angeles Clippers over the prestige, crosstown-rival Lakers.
Some within the state of New York may even go back to that same time period, when stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant spurned the bigger-brand Knicks for the little-engine-that-could, "slept-on" Brooklyn Nets.
As these situations show, "little-brother" big-market teams can pull off splashy moves such as these. The Mets hope that they'll fare far better after prying Soto from their crosstown rival.
Both those situations notoriously crashed-and-burned. But I'm confident, biases aside, that Soto and the Mets won't.
For one, there's no salary cap in baseball. There are certainly restrictions like harsh tax penalties in place to keep owners like Cohen from going too wild, but still, Cohen won't be cap-strapped like Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (top-10 highest net worth in the world, Steve Ballmer) was & is by the NBA's collective bargaining agreement. Cohen can continue to spend how he sees fit without having to worry about being capped off if he's willing to pony up on taxes.
Secondly, the Mets have built one hell of an infrastructure in place. From stars supplementing Soto in the lineup like Francisco Lindor & Mark Vientos (and maybe Pete Alonso) to established, productive veterans like Marte and Brandon Nimmo, to young prospects like Francisco Alvarez, Luisangel Acuna, and Ronny Mauricio on the rise, the Mets offense is set to once again be potent in 2025.
The starting rotation -- hell, the entire pitching staff as it sits right now before the Winter Meetings get underway -- doesn't look the strongest on paper, sure. Team President David Stearns has repeatedly shown, however, that his bargain bin dealing with pitching staffs over the years consistently pays dividends and performs above expectation on the field.
Just look at his acquisitions of starting pitchers Luis Severino and Sean Manaea last offseason and how pivotal those two men were in getting the Mets all the way to the National League Championship Series.
It's a monster contract, no question. But David Stearns' ability to find those "low-risk, high reward" diamonds in the rough with high efficiency should serve as great comfort for any Mets fans that are concerned about how the deal will age in both the short-and-long-term. It'll be quite the attempt at a payroll balancing act.
The Kawhi/PG to the Clippers and KD/Kyrie to the Nets moments made some people think that those were power-dynamic shifting moves. As time told, they didn't even come close.
Juan Soto spurning the Yankees for the Mets appears to be the most major of power shifts. But, the bottom line? You have to win to cement that. Thankfully for the Mets and their fans, the infrastructure in Queens is excellent from all angles and aspects -- a far cry from the Wilpon era that traumatized myself and so many others.
So, yes. The Mets had better win a World Series after this maneuver.
But based on everything Steve Cohen has done to turn the vibe & reputation of the franchise around?
There's no reason to doubt that he -- and Soto -- will deliver.
Comments