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    • Steve Cohen, Mets have ‘very detailed’ meeting with Juan Soto in California
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    Steve Cohen, Mets have ‘very detailed’ meeting with Juan Soto in California

    Vaseline Posted on

    Mets owner Steve Cohen led a contingent of top club officials to a meeting with coveted free agent superstar Juan Soto in Orange County, California, on Saturday, The Post has learned.

    All indications are that the meeting went extremely well, and the Mets are still considered one of the favorites to secure the services of the 26-year-old Soto, who helped the Yankees reach the World Series in his first season in The Bronx in 2024 and now the top winter priority of both New York teams. It is said that the Mets presentation was a “major production” and “very detailed.”

    Juan Soto is the most coveted free agent on the market. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
    Steve Cohen met with Juan Soto on Saturday, The Post learned. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

    The high-powered meetings are held in a very clandestine manner at a secret location somewhere near Newport Beach, California, so that only bits and pieces get out. But one person suggested the Mets are “hopeful” — and perhaps even optimistic — about their chances of easily winning the biggest prize of this free agent class. Sources say Mets baseball president David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza joined Cohen for the California confab and are also said to have made a positive impression.

    It is unknown if any official offers will be made during meetings this week, but it is almost certain that the slugger will set the record for contract value currently held by Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani (his historically delayed $700 million deal is valued somewhere between $437). M and $470 million). Soto’s deal could be worth $600 million, or possibly even an undeferred $700 million. The Blue Jays and Red Sox, among others, will sit down with Soto this week, and the Yankees will fly to California for their meeting.

    The Yankees, who are also considered among the favorites, will meet with Soto on Monday. Soto hit 41 home runs and posted a .989 OPS during his season in The Bronx, teaming with superstar Aaron Judge to form one of the deadliest hitting tandems in history. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner — who Judge rescued in free agency two years ago by matching the Giants’ nine-year, $360 million offer — is leading a Yankees group that will include general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.

    The Yankees baseball people are said to be doing everything they can to make this happen, and the top-revenue MLB team should certainly have a solid shot after Soto’s generally positive season in The Bronx. MLB owners’ meetings begin Tuesday in New York, so the Yankees will likely be one of the last to meet Soto, if not the last team. However, it is not known whether this is an advantage.

    Although the Yankees are the incumbent, the Mets have a few edges, starting with Cohen’s considerable resources and his determination to bring a durable winner to Queens. The Mets, who have had the highest payroll in the MLB the past two seasons, also reached the NLCS this season and appear to be on the rise.

    Cohen is seen as their biggest asset as he has shown a willingness to operate in the red, and is believed to have done so in recent seasons in an attempt to bring a winner to Queens. Plus, they took $150 million off their books, which doesn’t hurt either.

    The Mets have several free agents of their own, including their own slugger Pete Alonso and three-fifths of their starting rotation, but there’s no doubt who their priority is now: it’s Soto.

    Although Soto lists winning as one of his top priorities, interested teams are not fooling themselves and believe, as is the case with most free agents, that the deal could be decisive.

    Soto addressed the media after the Game 5 debacle and said “all 30 teams” will get a chance. And right now, even though the conversations are only in the middle innings, it feels like the Mets’ chances are better than most.

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