Today we know all the good things that came from Juan Soto‘s arrival to the New York Mets, but like every negotiation, there were turning points and tense moments, some that made Steve Cohen think that the Dominican player would end up staying with the New York Yankees.
With the season about to begin in which Soto will have to prove why he is worth $765 million, Sports Illustrated reveals information that had remained private about the Mets’ negotiations with the Dominican slugger to end up landing in Queens from the Bronx in one of the most exciting and incredible moves in baseball history in the United States.
And it all ends up being a matter of perception, as while Mets owner Steve Cohen thought he had been in one of the worst meetings of his life, Scott Boras and Juan Soto said yes to the Mets’ contract a few days after living tense moments in a house in Boca Raton, Florida.
Tension over Soto’s criticism of the Mets
It was December 6 when things got tense, Sports Illustrated reports, the moment Soto criticized Cohen’s team, telling him that what he needed from the Mets was ‘lineup protection’ as he felt that what they offered was not enough, after coming from San Diego and the Yankees, where he had been in the batting order with Manny Machado and Aaron Judge, respectively.
Of course, Cohen did not like the comment, and he exploded and shouted, “Why are we having this meeting? It sounds like you’re giving a bunch of reasons why you don’t want to come to our team!” He then walked out of the meeting and moments later told president of operations David Stearn, “Soto is going back to the Yankees“
Juan Soto must back up his contract with actions
To his surprise, the next day they received a call from Scott Boras, the Dominican’s agent, with the historic ‘yes’: “Juan liked you. You definitely met the ownership requirements,” Boras told Cohen, who didn’t think he had been in the same meeting.
It seems that everyone wants to talk about Juan Soto at the moment, as in addition to the Mets’ documentary about their star signing, now it is SI who does not want to miss any detail about the player just hours before the Opening Day. The reality is that we are all waiting for the Dominican’s bat to do the talking.
Read the full article here
