The Mets are gearing up for a big swing at the Yankees’ Juan Soto.
That’s according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, who mentioned the Mets’ interest in signing the crosstown superstar next offseason as a significant takeaway from his visit to Port St. Lucie this week.
“The most interesting thing heard at Mets’ camp yesterday — and it’s not surprising, given that the [Max] Scherzer contract (and others) will melt off their payroll next winter — is that they fully intend to take a run at Juan Soto next winter,” Olney wrote Wednesday on the social media site X.
Soto, whom the Yankees acquired in December in a franchise-altering trade with the San Diego Padres, is an impending free agent who is expected to pursue a historic contract when he hits the open market after the 2024 season.
Soto turned down a 15-year, $440 million extension offer from his original team, the Washington Nationals, in 2022, which prompted him to be traded that year to San Diego. Only 25 years old, Soto already boasts four top-10 finishes in NL MVP voting; three Silver Slugger Awards; three All-Star selections; a batting title; and a World Series championship.
The Mets and their deep-pocketed owner, Steve Cohen, largely avoided the top of this offseason’s free-agent class outside of a failed attempt to sign Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on a record-setting $325 million contract over 12 years.
Next offseason figures to be different for the Mets, who must also decide whether to re-sign homegrown star first baseman Pete Alonso, who is set to be a free agent. Like Soto, the homer-hitting Alonso is represented by agent Scott Boras, who is notorious for getting his clients the most money possible.
“My whole focus this year is to be the best I can be, be as locked in mentally and physically as possible to help this team win,” Alonso said last month after arriving to spring training. “That’s my job. We’ll see what happens in the future. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The Mets gave contracts worth $43.3 million annually to Scherzer before the 2022 season and co-ace Justin Verlander a year later, only to trade both during the team’s disappointing 2023 campaign. The Mets are still paying sizable sums in 2024 to Scherzer, now of the Texas Rangers, and Verlander, who is now with the Houston Astros.
Scherzer’s contract ends after the 2024 season, while Verlander’s $35 million option for 2025 would vest if he pitches 140 innings this year. The Mets would owe Verlander, who is set to begin the season on the injured list with a shoulder issue, $17.5 million in 2025 should that option vest.
A Mets push for Soto could create a bidding war between the New York clubs, as the Yankees are also expected to try to re-sign the slugger after trading five players, including prized pitchers Michael King and Drew Thorpe, to acquire him and fellow outfielder Trent Grisham.
As Olney noted Wednesday, not every team can afford Soto, who crushed a career-high 35 home runs last season.
“You have a handful of tanking teams that would never consider taking on his salary,” Olney wrote on X.
Soto is off to a red-hot start in spring training, going 6-for-9 with five extra base hits, including three home runs, and seven RBI through his first four games. Soto, whose .421 career on-base percentage ranks 19th in MLB history, is batting second in the Yankees order, right in front of Aaron Judge.
