Go Get Juan Soto

[Frayed Knot]

Bob Alpacadaca wrote: What was expected is nonetheless eye-opening: Gerrit Cole has opted out of his contract and placed the ball in the Yankees' court. Cole made the decision Saturday, The Post's Jon Heyman confirmed, to pull out of a deal that had four years and $144 million remaining. The Yankees can prevent their ace from hitting the open market by attaching a fifth year, worth $36 million, to the existing deal that would keep Cole in The Bronx through the 2029 season. If this somehow doesn't work out and Cole walks, that gives the Yankees more money to throw at Soto.

Except that if you're using the 'fixed payroll' kind of argument and assign Cole's contract towards Soto then there's less to throw towards the #1 starter they're going to need.



Also, I guess that whole 'YANKEE FAN NOW, TOMORROW, FOREVER' that Cole espouses has its limits. Not that I expect it not to.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

Frayed Knot wrote: Bob Alpacadaca wrote: What was expected is nonetheless eye-opening: Gerrit Cole has opted out of his contract and placed the ball in the Yankees' court. Cole made the decision Saturday, The Post's Jon Heyman confirmed, to pull out of a deal that had four years and $144 million remaining. The Yankees can prevent their ace from hitting the open market by attaching a fifth year, worth $36 million, to the existing deal that would keep Cole in The Bronx through the 2029 season. If this somehow doesn't work out and Cole walks, that gives the Yankees more money to throw at Soto. Except that if you're using the 'fixed payroll' kind of argument and assign Cole's contract towards Soto then there's less to throw towards the #1 starter they're going to need. Also, I guess that whole 'YANKEE FAN NOW, TOMORROW, FOREVER' that Cole espouses has its limits. Not that I expect it not to.

Good call. I don't know if he gets a chance to test the market or whether the Yanks will give him that year quickly.

[Frayed Knot]

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-executives-on-where-juan-soto-will-land-in-free-agency"Wide-ranging belief within the industry" believes that the Soto signing will come down to the Mets and the Yanx ... for whatever that's worth.



No word on how or if the vote count from some county in Michigan will play into all of this.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Frayed Knot wrote: https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-executives-on-where-juan-soto-will-land-in-free-agency"Wide-ranging belief within the industry" believes that the Soto signing will come down to the Mets and the Yanx ... for whatever that's worth. No word on how or if the vote count from some county in Michigan will play into all of this.

Kent County is reporting solidly in favor of the Mets getting Soto.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Reports say Steve Cohen is going to California next week to meet with Boras and Soto.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Just throwing this put there. Soto isn't a great fielder or baserunner today, difficult to imagine he will be any better over an 8 or 10 year contract he's about to sign.

[Edgy MD]

No, he won't.



On the other hand, there's a good chance he and Boras build in an opt-out for the back-half of that contract.



And load a disproportionate bunch of the salary into the front half.

[Centerfield]

Signing him to a long term deal and having him opt out of the second half would be ideal.

[smg58]

=Centerfield post_id=178700 time=1731165389 user_id=65]
Signing him to a long term deal and having him opt out of the second half would be ideal.

[Centerfield]

Meetings with Soto this week. In order:



1. Blue Jays

2. Red Sox

3. Mets

4. Yankees



Per Jeff Passan.



Do we read anything into the order of meetings?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Probably not. It's probably just about availability and logistics.



At least no Phillies or Braves. Yet.

[Frayed Knot]

=Centerfield post_id=178858 time=1731431593 user_id=65]
Do we read anything into the order of meetings?

[Edgy MD]

It would be a heckuva first shot fired ending a long detente between the Yankees and the Mets with regard to going after each other's marquee free agents.



When the Mets and the Yankees have signed players directly off the other's roster, it's usually somebody — Severino, Bader, Granderson — that the other has implicitly moved on from. The Mets grabbing the top free agent off the Yankee squad while they are still pursuing him could be the start of a vicious market war.



The Yankees could turn around and sign Alonso and Manaea the next day and the back pages would catch 🔥🔥!

[Frayed Knot]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Just throwing this put there. Soto isn't a great fielder or baserunner today ...

Bu ... but, he was a Gold Glove Finalist!

[Benjamin Grimm]

NJ.com reports that Carlos Beltran said the following to a Puerto Rican newspaper:

“The Mets want to improve the team and there is no doubt that they will go after free agents, especially Juan Soto, who everybody wants,” he said. “The Mets will go full blast for him.”

[smg58]

The odd thing about Soto's defense is that both Fangraphs and the Fielding Bible have him as better in right field that in left. And neither pegs him as significantly worse than average. If anything he's significantly better in right than Marte has been the past two seasons. I don't see it as a major concern.

[Frayed Knot]

I wondered aloud in one of these threads about whether the small RF in YSIII skews Soto's defensive range numbers to the positive.

aka: tough for stuff to fall in for a hit when the fielder only has to cover 7-1/2 ft in any direction. (OK so I'm exaggerating slightly)



But, yeah, he occasionally takes some odd routes to balls but he's at least a decent fielder and throws well. Starling on top of his form was better but not anymore.

[Centerfield]

Mets met with Soto yesterday. Per Jon Heyman.



Was productive blah blah blah.



Yankees fly in on Monday.

[ashie62]

CBS reported that Soto asked the Mets about player evaluation methods



That would have to be Boras as Soto is dumb as a rock



Until he becomes a Met

[Benjamin Grimm]

According to Carlos Baerga (I have no idea whether or not he's in a position to have any inside information) the Mets have made an offer to Soto that's worth $660 million. No word that I've seen about how many years that might cover.

[Centerfield]

From Bob Klapisch.



https://www.nj.com/yankees/2024/11/how-yankees-plan-to-woo-juan-soto-decision-could-come-quickly-klapisch.htmlhttps://www.nj.com/yankees/2024/11/how-yankees-plan-to-woo-juan-soto-decision-could-come-quickly-klapisch.html

He's believed to be “all in” on Soto, according to one source. But that's no guarantee the Yankees will be the highest bidder. To the contrary, Steinbrenner has a realistic expectation that Mets' owner Steve Cohen will offer Soto the biggest contract — both in dollars and length of commitment.

I wish we had a better description of this source. The suggestion seems to be that the source has some knowledge of Steinbrenner's mindset.

[MFS62]

=Centerfield post_id=179303 time=1731967462 user_id=65]
From Bob Klapisch.

I wish we had a better description of this source. The suggestion seems to be that the source has some knowledge of Steinbrenner's mindset.

[Frayed Knot]

Klapisch specifically says there IS a source to the "all in" mindset.

How you want to consider that source is up to you, but that's not the same as saying there isn't one.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think it was sourced. It traces back to something Carlos Beltran said to a Puerto Rican newspaper.

[Centerfield]

Yeah, his description of the source, and his lack of clarity on the highest offer statement is the issue. It's lazy at best. At worst, it's intentionally vague to cover how weak his source is.



Earlier he wrote:

And there's one other perk Steinbrenner and his braintrust will emphasize as well. “It's the idea of pairing up with (Aaron) Judge, and going to the playoffs practically every year,” is how one source, familiar with the Yankees' strategy, put it.

So there. He's a little clearer. The source is familiar with the Yankees strategy. It might be someone within the organization. But the news, if you can call it that, is that someone close to the Yankees knows they will stress the relationship with Aaron Judge.



Then:

As another MLB executive said, “I expect there to be a decision fairly quickly” based on Boras' failed strategies last year.

The source here is another MLB executive. This person presumably doesn't have any knowledge of the Yankees thinking. But is speculating.



And then the real nugget of info.

He's believed to be “all in” on Soto, according to one source. But that's no guarantee the Yankees will be the highest bidder. To the contrary, Steinbrenner has a realistic expectation that Mets' owner Steve Cohen will offer Soto the biggest contract — both in dollars and length of commitment.

Again. No description of the source. Is this the same source as the Judge quote above? Probably not. He'd say something like "that same source". Does this source also have knowledge of the Yankees' thinking? If so, why not say so. And is the source responsible for the first "all in" statement, or the no guarantee part as well? And what about the realistic expectation that Cohen will outbid the Yankees. Is that from that same source?



It's so infuriating.

[Frayed Knot]

It's a source. If the source wanted to go record then Klapisch would have told us who it was.

But he/she obviously doesn't and so it's just a kernel of information that's out there, along with other nuggets and speculations, and we can think of it

however we choose. I understand why we'd want more info but things don't always work that way and so I'm not quite sure why this has folks all upset.

[Centerfield]

I don't know that I'm all upset. I don't think I'm even partially upset. I am pointing out that:



(a) he fails or declines to identify anything about this source. Not even the vague descriptors he uses for his prior two sources. This causes me to draw the worst conclusions possible about the source. Which calls into question whether the statement is worth anything at all.



( he fails to identify which of the three statements (all in, no guarantee, Cohen will make the highest offer) are from his source, and which ones are his own speculation.



And this is irritating since this is the only thing in the entire article that is really newsworthy.



(so I guess if i'm irritated, I guess I'm at least partially upset)

[Centerfield]

Anyway. Per Heyman, the Yankees met with Soto yesterday. Went well. Blah blah blah. Dodgers are meeting with him today. This wasn't previously on the schedule.



If I can do some baseless speculation, I wonder if the Yankee meeting didn't go as well as planned. Meaning the Yankees didn't indicate a willingness to go as high as Boras was expecting. So now he needs the Dodgers to create a bidding war.



You can't leverage Cohen without another big spender at the table.

[Frayed Knot]

Phillies also want in on the action ... and why not?

[Benjamin Grimm]

That would suck.



If he decides not to go to the Mets, I would advise him to go to the Red Sox or Blue Jays.