Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was due to lead a contingent of high-ranking club personnel, including general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone, to meet with superstar free agent hitter Juan Soto late Monday afternoon in southern California.
The great hope of the Yankees bigwigs is to convince Soto to return to them, and while the incumbent club has many obvious and great selling points, including a generally successful 2024 season together, the competition for Soto may be getting even stiffer than previously known.
Beyond the rival Mets, Red Sox and Blue Jays, all already known to have met with Soto, sources say the World Champion Dodgers also are expected to be granted a meeting with Soto, whose schedule is obviously filled with a succession of high-powered, mostly big-market suitors. The Dodgers were reported last month by The Post to have interest in the 26-year-old hitting star, as long as Soto reciprocated that interest.
While Los Angeles may not view themselves as the favorites in this derby due to their location on the west coast, a Soto confidant downplayed the idea that geography is the factor some assume. Soto obviously must have some interest since it’s believed he’ll be approving the get-together.
As MLB’s most consistent winner in recent seasons, with an outstanding current roster, the Dodgers are a very attractive landing spot for most free agents. But the Yankees aren’t that far behind, and at least the perception has been that they hold some sort of edge since Soto seemed to generally enjoy his season in The Bronx, which resulted in a World Series loss to those Dodgers.
Soto cited winning as a major factor in his upcoming decision in an interview following the Yankees’ Game 5 World Series defeat. He’s reached the World Series twice (winning in 2019 with the Nats). But multiple executives with interested teams are assuming that, like with most free agents, the actual deal will be the largest consideration. Assuming that’s the case, the Yankees don’t necessarily have an easy road there, either.
While the Dodgers have gotten reasonable and even great deals with their positional superstars Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, and tend not to win bidding wars — see Corey Seager, Gerrit Cole and others they’ve played for — the motivated Mets and Blue Jays are viewed as threats to place the highest bid. Mets owner Steve Cohen and Jays owner Edward Rogers are believed to be two of baseball’s richest owners, and both seem extremely motivated here.
In fact, one rival predicted: “I have a hard time seeing Steve Cohen be outbid.”
Steinbrenner and his baseball people are also said to be “gung-ho” about Soto, their top winter priority, who hit 41 home runs, posted a .989 OPS and helped them into their first World Series in 15 years with his heroic home run at Cleveland. And the Yankees, as MLB’s perennial revenue leader, certainly have a chance. They also can make an appealing case, even beyond what Soto experienced.
Sources say Soto enjoyed the Yankees clubhouse very much, and he couldn’t have minded having presumptive 2024 AL MVP Aron Judge batting behind him (Soto is one of three finalists for the award). The Yankees also have the richest history and can basically offer him a spot in Monument Park, if that appeals to the future Hall of Famer.
There’s been a perception that Soto’s year and a half in San Diego was a geographic imposition for his parents, who like Soto live in the Dominican Republic and the Fort Lauderdale area. The Dodgers surely wonder if they are at a disadvantage for that reason. But some folks close to Soto said he actually loved life away from the ballpark in San Diego, which would run counter to the widely-held belief that he much prefers the east coast.
