Michael Kay pours water on a hot stove for Yankees fans.
Yankees broadcasters believe owner Hal Steinbrenner has no intention of competing dollar for dollar with Mets owner Steve Cohen in the race to acquire prized free agent Juan Soto. He said he heard from baseball officials that Cohen intended to outbid any offer by $50 million. .
Kaye introduced his argument by referencing former MLB player Carlos Baerga's unconfirmed report that the Mets offered Soto $660 million.
“This is what scares me,” Kaye said on “The Michael Kay Show” on Monday, noting that Baerga is “locked in” by the Latino players.
“I will say this, this is not what Yankees fans want to hear. I don't think the Yankees are going to go there. I don't. And from what I'm hearing today from baseball people, Cohen is not the person who is offering Apparently they're willing to pay him $50 million more than he did. So it seems like the Mets really want to get this player. So every report I've seen is that there's been no offer, but that's usually the case. Mr. Baerga, who is crazy about it, said it would be $660 million over 15 years.
Kay is clearly involved in the Yankees organization, as he worked for the Yankees and covered the Yankees before moving on to a career in television and radio.
There have been questions about how much Steinbrenner intends to spend, both overall and for Soto.
The newspaper's Jon Heyman reported that the “perception” in the baseball world is that the Yankees have “some sort of advantage” given Soto's time in the Bronx.
The Mets met with Soto last week, and the Yankees visited on Monday.
The Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers are also interested in him, with Los Angeles entering the fray thanks to savings from Shohei Ohtani's deferred contract.
“This is just my gut feeling, but several people I spoke to today don't think he would be rejected in terms of overbidding anyone,” Kaye said of Cohen.
“If Juan Soto came back to the Yankees, their bet to trade him would have paid off, it paid off in a way, getting them to the World Series, he was certainly a big He played a role, and I think he probably did.'' I fell in love with the experience and want to come again.''
“But I just believe that ultimately it's going to cost the most money and it's going to be the Mets. I really do.”
