Juan Soto signed the biggest contract in sports history this offseason and the process to get there was anything but straightforward.
In December, Soto inked a 15-year, $765 million with the New York Mets. That came after a long courting process that began with the crosstown Yankees as his preferred destination. Now we know how the 26-year-old superstar went about picking the Mets.
Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci released an article about the Mets and Soto on Tuesday and it goes in-depth on how the franchise lured its new slugger to Queens and how he went about deciding to sign there. Soto wasn't making his decision alone, as his father and mother combined with him to create what agent Scott Boras called the Supreme Court of Soto.
From Verducci's piece:
The Supreme Court of Soto chose Cohen and the Mets over Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees. Why? It starts with Cohen. “I mean, the effort that he puts in,” Soto says. “He put a lot of things out there. They put my family into it. My family, and the way they take care of everything. They have to be taken care of.”
There was another separator: trust in long-term success.
As you see how long this contract is going to be, it just came down to that decision, you know?” Soto says. “What do they have in the farm system? How many times can we be good on this team? I know the Yankees are going to be good for the next five, six years. We don’t know after that.”
The article also notes that Soto is trusting that Cohen will continue spending lavishly to make the Mets competitive for the entire length of that 15-year contract. "That's what he told me," Soto said. "He's going to try and put a winning team out there every year. And he's capable of it. And I give him all my trust. I hope to be happy."
The Yankees were the other team competing for Soto's services after he helped lead them to the World Series in 2024. Unfortunately for New York's other team, the four-time All-Star was not confident in the franchise after how the process played out.
"I feel like the Yankees did a pretty good job. But they kept... they couldn't get it done right," Soto said. "Like, I wanted to get it done, but they're still bouncing around. 'Here ... at least that ... maybe .. maybe no ...' instead of just getting it done right away. Yeah, just get it done."
The Yankees stumbled in their pursuit, while the Mets struck all the right chords. Now they'll have Juan Soto occupying the heart of their batting order for years to come.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Juan Soto Explains Why He Chose the Mets in Free Agency.
