New York Yankees fans are still reeling over Juan Soto’s decision to sign with the New York Mets, and while money talks, one report has perhaps an additional reason why he wanted Queens over the Bronx.
It was expected that Mets owner Steve Cohen would do anything possible to get Soto to wear blue and orange next season, and it wasn’t just about the money, as the New York Post reported.
According to The Post’s Jon Heyman, Cohen didn’t think twice when it came to giving a suite to Soto’s family to help sweeten the $765 million deal he agreed to.
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New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Dodgers during the World Series in Los Angeles on Oct. 26, 2024. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)
Heyman adds the Yankees, though, “wouldn’t budge on the suite,” noting the team felt they couldn’t do so when Aaron Judge and Derek Jeter – the past two Yankees captains – paid for their family‘s suite. There would’ve been a discount, but not a freebie like Cohen offered.
Of course, the main piece of this was Soto getting a historic contract that smashed Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There are no deferments, so he’s scheduled to receive $51 million per season. He gets a $75 million signing bonus, whereas the Yankees didn’t have one, and there are escalators in the contract that could take the deal to $805 million.
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Soto also has a fifth-year opt-out clause, when he will be 30 years old.
The Yankees’ deal was comparable, though, as they reportedly offered $760 million over 16 years, which GM Brian Cashman admitted was “above and beyond our comfort level” when speaking to reporters at the MLB Winter Meetings on Monday.
New York outfielder Juan Soto reacts after getting an out to end the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals during the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 7, 2024. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
And even Cohen understood his best offer might not have beaten the Yankees, considering Soto already had a year with the team and a World Series appearance to boot.
“I was being logical,” Cohen told The Post about his negotiations with Soto and super agent Scott Boras. “When you have [Aaron] Judge, it’s tough to beat that. Juan was great. But what they had… I didn’t know how to solve that.”
But Cohen, GM David Stearns and the rest of the organization found a way, ultimately checking the boxes Soto wanted for his long-term future in MLB.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are pivoting to Plan B, which appears to be going after top names in the starting pitching market, including Max Fried and Corbin Burnes.
Yankees’ Juan Soto takes off his batting gloves after grounding out during the World Series, on Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)
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How the Yankees respond to life without Soto remains to be seen, but the fallout from going crosstown still weighs heavy on the minds of fans.
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