Steve Cohen and the Mets appear ready to go all in for Juan Soto.
Former Mets star Carlos Beltran, who’s now a special assistant to president of baseball operations David Stearns, said the team could be going “full blast” for the 26-year-old free-agent outfielder as the club prepares to meet with him and agent Scott Boras.
“The Mets want to improve the team and there’s no doubt they’ll go after all the players on the market, knowing that the piece the whole world wants is Juan Soto, and the Mets won’t hesitate to go after him ‘full blast,’” Beltran said in Spanish to reporters Wednesday during a charity pickleball tournament in Puerto Rico, according to Primera Hora.
After a surprising run to the NLCS in Stearns’ first year at the helm and with nearly $100 million coming off the books, Cohen seems ready to open the war chest for Soto, who helped lead the Yankees to the World Series in his first year in The Bronx after they acquired him from the Padres last offseason.
“The owner of the Mets is one of the wealthiest in the game and he wants to win,” Beltran said. “When he says he wants to win, he doesn’t say it so the fans will get excited and go to the ballpark. Really, it’s something personal for him.”
Soto, a finalist for the AL MVP award that teammate Aaron Judge is expected to win, is likely to command at least the second-biggest contract ever after Shohei Ohtani’s record-breaking 10-year, $700 million pact with the Dodgers from last offseason, though $680 million of that is deferred.
“Scott Boras is going to push the envelope as much as he can. That’s his typical negotiation and, as a ballplayer, he’s the agent you want in that situation,” said Beltran, who was represented by Boras for a portion of his career.
“Soto has the numbers, so it’s not as if Boras has to fool anyone, rather he’s going to sell his product for what he is, high quality, consistent, young, with playoff experience and one who has remained healthy over the years.”
The Blue Jays are considered a real threat to the Mets and Yankees in the pursuit for Soto, noti.group’s Jon Heyman reported Monday.
The Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox and two mystery teams were expected to be among the teams to set meetings with Soto and Boras in southern California.
Cohen will be among the Mets contingent flying out to meet Soto.
While star shortstop Francisco Lindor was spotted at LAX on Sunday, he was flying in for a photo shoot and has since returned home to Florida. There are no plans for Lindor to be part of the Mets-Soto meeting.
However, that doesn’t mean Lindor, an NL MVP finalist, will completely sit out the recruitment of Soto.
“That’s always important. I think that being a free agent, knowing what Lindor did last year, and knowing what he can do, there’s no doubt that you want to relate and share your career with players like Lindor,” Beltran said. “I know that that’s an influence and I know that Soto will probably consider that. He [Soto} has already experimented with Judge. Now he has the opportunity, at least, to listen to Lindor.”
Beltran said it would be “brutal” — in a positive way for the Mets — if they added Soto.
“Not only are you adding a bat, but you have a ballplayer that you can build around,” Beltran said. “He’s a ballplayer who is extremely young at 26 years. In the case of Lindor, he wouldn’t be alone. When you’re alone, the pressure falls on you, which is normal because that pressure makes you want to be better. Now you can [share] that pressure and Soto can show that he’s a leader.”
— Additional reporting by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
