Hal Steinbrenner will not go down without a flight.
It is not just Mets owner Steve Cohen who is planning a trip to Southern California to see Juan Soto and Scott Boras, but the Yankees’ owner, too.
Steinbrenner is expected to fly out for a visit with the superstar free agent and his agent in about a week and a half, industry sources said Friday.
Hal Steinbrenner will visit Juan Soto and Scott Boras.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The date for the sit-down was not immediately clear, but more clear was the fact the Yankees were assured of a talk with Soto after the Mets talk with Soto.
Cohen is set to make the trip to Soto and Boras next week, sources told The Post on Thursday, in an attempt to lure the slugger to Queens.
The billionaire behemoths have begun the fight for one of the most enticing baseball free agents ever — a battle that surely will include much of the rest of the league but could come down to the New York powers.
Soto, of course, knows the Yankees well after spending this past season in The Bronx, where he was not just brilliant but immediately beloved.
He was a fan favorite, fit in well in the clubhouse and performed as advertised at the plate, where he posted a .989 OPS with 41 home runs in 157 games while conducting the most entertaining at-bats in the game.
Juan Soto is the top free agent on the market.Getty Images
Cohen and presumably other owners across the league will have introductory meetings; Steinbrenner will make sure a familiar voice is heard, too.
“Since [Soto] knows us, we are standing ready to meet with him if he feels it necessary to meet with us,” Brian Cashman said this week at the GM meetings. “He understands the landscape of opportunities that now exist for himself. He’s played in San Diego. He’s played in Washington. Now he’s played here. So we are more than willing to meet as many times as he would like to meet.”
Boras has other top free agents on the market who could warrant a chat with Steinbrenner, but there is no one available like Soto.
Scott Boras speaks with Juan Soto during the World Series.AP
A generational hitter who turned just 26 last month — and who partnered with Aaron Judge to carry the Yankees to the World Series this past season — could approach the record $700 million given to Shohei Ohtani last winter.
There is no one in the sport who has more money than Cohen.
There is no one in the sport facing more pressure to sign Soto than Steinbrenner, whose club mortgaged part of its future in trading for the outfielder ahead of his walk year and whose club has not won a World Series since 2009.
Steve Cohen, pictured with wife Alex at a Knicks game recently, is going to visit Juan Soto and Scott Boras next week.Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
The Blue Jays, Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox and Rays are known to have shown interest in Soto, but the Yankees’ biggest threat likely will come from their neighbors.2
“They want to win,” Cashman said this week of the Mets. “They are in a large market with us, had a taste of success this year and they want to move the needle even more forward. The best way to do that is import quality players to what you already have.”
Source : nypost.com
