Juan Soto wanted to know how much success the future new team patriarch could expect if he signed with the Mets.
It was one of two lunch meetings Soto had with Steve Cohen during the All-Star outfielder's free agent tour last month.
Soto knew the expectation was to win, but to what extent over the next 10 years?
Cohen told Soto he wanted to win two to four World Series titles in the next 10 years.
Soto respected what he heard.
“I think that's why you play baseball, to be a championship player and win as much as you can,” Soto said Thursday at Citi Field, where he wore the Mets' No. 22 jersey for the first time. Ta. He signed a historic contract with the club. “At the end of the day, you can have all this stuff, but if you don’t win, it’s a little tough.”
Soto, 26, signed a record 15-year contract worth $765 million, which includes an opt-out after the fifth season. The contract also includes a signing bonus of $75 million and is non-delayable.
The Mets can override Soto's opt-out by agreeing to increase his AAV from $51 million to $55 million after the 2029 season.
The deal also includes a bonus for winning the MVP award.
Soto, who was heavily pursued by the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers, faced a difficult decision in what he called an at times stressful process, and said he didn't know which offer to accept until the end.
In one season with the Yankees, he hit a career-high 41 home runs and helped the team advance to the World Series.
The Yankees offered him $760 million over 16 years.
“They did everything they could to help me and bring me back,” Soto said. “Four other teams were trying to do the same thing and trying to make me comfortable. In the end, we looked at everything, looked at the opportunities and what everyone wants to do over the next 15 years. We looked at it, and we think we have the best chance of doing it here.”
Cohen had coveted Soto for years.
President of Baseball Operations David Stearns confirmed that Cohen discussed Soto's free agency this winter while courting Stearns to head the Mets' front office in the summer of 2023.
“We talked about some of the generational players that are coming into our games and the difficulty of accessing some of those generational players, and certainly Juan is one of them. '' Stearns said. “We don't know exactly where this is going to go and whether he will be punished. [contract] It was kind of an extension, but we knew that if he were to become a free agent, we were going to make a very strong push. ”
Even after agreeing to provide Soto's family with a luxury suite, Cohen had doubts about whether the deal would go through. Cohen didn't know Soto had a girlfriend until Sunday night, hours before news broke that Soto was headed to the Mets.
“If you want something great, it's going to be unpleasant,” Cohen said of the Soto deal. “I always stretch a little bit because I know what it takes to achieve.”
The Mets are laying the groundwork to team up with Francisco Lindor in a huge leap forward for New York's National League franchise, which has played in the Yankees' shadow for decades.
Soto was asked if coming to Queens meant New York would be with the Mets.
“This has been a Mets town for a long time, so I think we just have to bring it to the top,” Soto said. “You look at a championship and you know whether it's a Yankees city or a Mets city.”
Stearns said the future of the franchise was an important topic in his conversations with Soto before the deal.
“We talked a lot about roster building and the young talent coming up,” Stearns said. “And our ability to continue to supplement our major league teams with ownership resources while investing heavily in our minor league system. Juan has certainly been around enough organizations and leagues, so We have a pretty good sense of what leads to sustainable competitiveness.”
