The New York Mets’ organization wound up playing a major role in Juan Soto signing with the franchise. The sweepstakes came to an end on Sunday night with the Mets beating out their crosstown rival and landing the grand prize in free agency.
Report: Juan Soto liked Mets’ future outlook over Yankees
As a recent guest on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed that Soto opted to join the Mets on a record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal in part because of the bright future they’ve positioned themselves to have:
“In the end I think Juan Soto looked at the New York Mets’ future, and looked at the New York Yankees’ future and believed that the Mets have a better future than Yankees,” Passan said.
Mets could make more moves to solidify contending roster
Passan also touched on the way in which Mets owner Steve Cohen has speedily revitalized the franchise from moribund status to World Series contenders since gaining control of the franchise in 2020, and how utilizing the same mold he’s employed to get them this far before, and expectedly after landing Soto attracted the latter to the Mets:
“And this I think is just the beginning. They are going to spend more money. They are going to continue to have payrolls like this. And to spend $765 million to be up potentially at $805 million. It seems unfathomable, but that is how ultimately the New York Mets got Juan Soto,” Passan noted.
Soto passed on Yankees’ strong roster & pipeline for Mets
The Yankees have an incredibly bright future. Led by 2024 American League MVP Aaron Judge, the Bronx Bombers boast a formidable order of talented sluggers also including Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton. Former 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil and Carlos Rodon hold them down on the mound.
Standout defender Anthony Volpe is one of their most promising young talents, while they’ve just brought up budding star outfielder Jasson Dominguez at the tail end of the 2024 campaign. Their farming system teems with encouraging prospects including OF Spencer Jones and infielder George Lombard Jr., while management is willing to spend money to maintain their contending roster.
That was shown in the 16-year, $760 million offer that the Yankees offered Soto. No matter, the 26-year-old generational talent opted for the Mets’ offer and viewed their current fabric, upward trajectory, and player-friendly environment as major reasons to move across the waters to play at Citi Field in 2025. The moves that the Mets make throughout the rest of the offseason could determine just how content Soto will be with his decision beginning next season.
