There’s a left field porch near the upper deck at Citi Field. I take breaks from the press box and walk to the porch with a view of the Bronx and LaGuardia Airport. So where am I going with this? Of course it’s about Juan Soto.
It was Soto and his free agency as I continued to glance at incoming flights to LaGuardia from the Bronx side on that evening in late October, a Mets team that defied the odds in their NLCS with the Dodgers. Soto, I said, could have been a difference maker in the Mets lineup.
So here we are today and weeks removed from that walk to the outfield perch. Weeks of talk, rumors, speculation as to where Juan Soto would land and how much? We got that answer late Sunday night when he landed in Queens at Citi Field not far from the Bronx and Yankee Stadium. The richest contract in sports history and with the cross-town Mets, a difference maker.
A generational superstar is Soto, and the complexion of two New York baseball teams has changed, because for years it was the deep pocket Yankees that always landed a superstar. Now, though, it’s the deep pockets of billionaire owner Steve Cohen who delivered his promise when he purchased the Mets four years ago.
A landscape has suddenly changed, the Mets can no longer be considered a little brother to their counterparts of a Yankees team that had Soto for a year. Soto was a risk for the Yankees with his free agent year getting more attention than his at-bats, though content hitting before Aaron Judge in the lineup. He was a difference maker with super agent Scott Boras that would test the market.
Soto was the difference maker in leading the Yankees to their first World Series in 15 years. The Mets with Soto won’t need to wait 15 years for a World Series championship, their last one in 1986 under the Wilpon ownership, a time when contracts and complexion of baseball business was different.
But this is the deep pockets of a Mets owner who told fans since he assumed ownership, it would be different. He has the financial punch. Cohen will go to the bank and disregard a luxury tax that will put his Mets over that salary threshold.
That October evening, I questioned a baseball executive as many reporting on the Soto suspense explored similar views. He said, it would be a bidding war, the Yankees and Mets had the means and Soto would remain in New York.
At what expense would it take? That was a bidding war that changed the complexion of two competitive teams and with fan bases also in suspense. Soto was the center of attention and storyline as the annual Baseball Winter Meetings commenced Sunday evening in Dallas.
There was a lot of emotion. Social media posts from Yankees fans who pushed for a Soto return, Mets fans said his name on a record contract had to be done. Yankees fans who wore Soto jerseys and number 22 became haters. One posted a video on Seaver way with Citi Field in the background. He immediately became a hater citing the remaining rundown car muffler shops that are still in business with a new complex of a soccer stadium, hotel, and apartments in construction phases.
He said, Soto will fit in with the junk shops. Then again, the sentiment of a Yankees fan base that strongly believed their owner Hal Steinbrenner would not lose their generational player to the rival Mets.
Again, a different time and era for New York baseball teams. The Mets are here, though much more roster movement to do with Soto signed long term. At what cost will it take for Pete Alonso to ink a new deal, or does he go cross town because the Yankees have a void at first base?
The Mets are revamping their starting rotation. The free agent spending and the ability to swing a trade or two are expected. Soto was sold on New York, whether it be the Yankees or Mets and fans at Citi Field will also gravitate to his presence as they did in the Bronx.
Soto no longer has Aaron Judge to protect him in the lineup. But you look at his career Citi Field numbers, 35 games (.333 average, 12 home runs). He always said it was his ballpark. Now, 15 years and pending an opt out of five, Soto can only add to his Hall of Fame numbers.
Soto is a difference maker; the Mets are vastly improved as they come off a 2024 season of surprise and eventful late October baseball. But signing Soto does not guarantee a Mets World Series title next year, though Cohen and the Mets are a step closer.
Significant, though, is to know the Yankees will move on. They have the ability to come back from not retaining Soto. The free agent market will move rapidly now that the Soto suspense has come to a conclusion but at what expense?
We do know the landscape has changed. Cohen was relentless and won the bidding war over Steinbrenner for a generational player. That walk to the Citi Field outfield porch in April will have a view of the Bronx.
A view though without Juan Soto at Yankee Stadium and for their fan base that is tough to handle.
Rich Mancuso: X (Twitter) @Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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