The New York Yankees currently employ Juan Soto, and they have loved every minute of it. He enjoys playing in pinstripes and he has been highly productive, with a .294/.424/.595 with 37 home runs and a 1.019 OPS. For now, the New York Mets are playing the waiting game.
Soto also enjoys having the power and the ability to sign wherever he wants in just a few months after the World Series, to be more precise. He will be a free agent, a moment he has patiently waited for for years, and he will sign a life-changing contract that will probably be worth more than $500 million.
Whether the Yankees can absorb such a mammoth salary obligation for the next decade or so remains to be seen, given their current competitive balance tax situation. They will surely give it their best shot, but it’s certainly not a given that he will return. And this is where the Mets’ patience could pay off.
For months, Mets fans have expressed their intention to have Soto on their team. The player, meanwhile, has certainly not indicated he will sign for the Yankees: instead, he wants to keep his options open.
And so far, the most likely landing spots for the generational talent are (yes, you guessed them) the Mets and the Yankees.
Francisco Lindor would love to see Soto play for the Mets
Mets star Francisco Lindor has certainly welcomed the possibility of playing with Soto in Queens next season. He is even excited at the prospect of it.
“When it comes to the outfielder from across the borough, he’s having a fantastic year,” Lindor told MLB insider Jeff Passan, as SNY notes. “I hope he goes out and breaks every record out there when it comes to getting paid. If it’s with us, it’ll be fantastic, he’ll help us a lot.”
Soto would certainly help the Mets a lot. He would be the best hitter on the team by a mile, and that includes Lindor. If we account defense and baserunning, they are very close as players, but there is no offensive player like Soto on the current Mets roster.
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He could give the squad a nice competitive advantage in an increasingly tough division.
The Mets can compete with any team financially, so they are very much in play for the Yankees star in a few months.