Steve Cohen believed that Juan Soto returned to the Yankees after the second in-person meeting held in December amid discussions to bring Slugger to Queens.
It's been a long time Features published by Sports Illustrated In the Mets hunt, he has involved one of the biggest names in baseball this offseason.
Soto, of course, signed the Mets on December 11th on a 15-year recording setting of 15 years, $765 million contract, but just five days ago, the Mets owner left the meeting with Soto and camp in Florida.
Cohen convened a meeting with Soto and his representatives at Cohen's Boca Raton home on December 6th. There, Soto told the Mets that one of the biggest priorities he was signing was to ensure that the lineup was protected.
Soto had judges Manny Machado and Aaron in San Diego during his sole season in the Bronx, but he didn't feel the Mets had enough protection for his preferences.
From there the conversation didn't get much better – at one point, at least in Cohen's eyes, his complaints seemed to boil.
“Why are we having this meeting? It sounds like you have so many reasons why you don't want to come to our team!” Cohen reportedly said during the sit-in.
After the meeting ended and Soto departed, Cohen told baseball business Mets president David Stearns that Soto was “back to the Yankees.”
But to his surprise, Cohen received a call the following morning from Soto's agent Scott Bolas, who surprised the Mets owner.
Bolas told Cohen the meeting was “really, really, really great” despite Cohen feeling it was “one of the worst meetings.”
“Juan liked you. You definitely checked the ownership box,” Bolas told Cohen over the phone.
The following Sunday, Soto gave Bolas Go-Aard to try and sign a contract with the Mets, and later that night, it ended and the slugger became a member of the Slugger.
Soto will make his official Mets debut when he opens the regular season in Houston on Thursday.
