Many members of the MLB community believe that All-Star outfielder Juan Soto left the New York Yankees to sign with the New York Mets this offseason mostly because Mets owner Steve Cohen outbid Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner.
During an interview with NBC’s “Today” show that aired on Monday morning, Soto opened up about why he’ll be playing home games in Queens rather than in the Bronx for the foreseeable future.
“I mean, they tried the hardest they can but things happen, you know? You gotta go through a lotta things,” Soto said about his contract talks with the Yankees, as shared by Andrew Greif of NBC News. “It’s a whole group, family decision that we made. And I think that was the best one, you know? They really tried but we couldn’t get it done.”
Steinbrenner reportedly offered Soto $760M over 16 years, but the slugger ultimately put pen to paper on a 15-year, $765M contract that could exceed $800M total to join the Mets. That agreement included a $75M signing bonus, an opt-out after five years, no deferred money, a suite for the Soto family at Citi Field and other “family services” from the club. Steinbrenner allegedly wasn’t willing to throw in a suite because players such as captains Aaron Judge and Derek Jeter have had to pay for their suites in the past.
Additionally, it was reported in December that “Soto’s immediate family, specifically his mother Belkis Pacheco, appeared to have a soft spot for Cohen and his wife, Alex.” In February, Cohen acknowledged that he felt “the family thing definitely helped” the Mets win the Soto sweepstakes.
“I can’t complain about Yankee fans,” Soto added during the “Today” segment. “They were amazing, day in, day out, the whole season last year. And I really appreciate not only Yankees fans but the Dominican community. They were showing off and I was really happy for that.”
Per Bridget Hyland of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Soto insisted that Judge is his “favorite hitter so far.” Judge earning American League Most Valuable Player honors for the second time en route to guiding the 2024 Yankees to a World Series berth wasn’t enough to convince Soto to leave some money on the table to stay with the Bronx Bombers. It sounds like the 26-year-old has no regrets about his free-agency decision ahead of Opening Day.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
