Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner plans to fly to Southern California to meet directly with Juan Soto and agent Scott Boras, New York Post’s Mark W. Sanchez and Jon Heyman report. It is said that The paper reports that the sit-in will take place within about a week and a half, days after Boras and Soto greet Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Boras indicated during this week’s GM meeting that Soto will meet with the ownership groups of all teams pursuing him. So it became inevitable that he would sit down with Cohen and Steinbrenner, respectively. The Yankees and Mets are the most obvious suitors for the top free agent on the market.
Many teams would want to add Soto. Heyman reported last week that at least 11 teams have expressed interest in Boras, including the Giants, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Red Sox. Still, there is speculation across the industry that Soto will most likely end up with one of New York’s teams. Boras has said publicly that he intends to sign Soto anywhere. Of course, saying otherwise wouldn’t do his market any favors.
Phillies owner John Middleton said today that bidding could fall to the Yankees and Mets. “I think Juan Soto would rather be in New York, but I don’t mind being a stalking horse,” Middleton told Connor Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “At some point, if (Director of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski) and I feel like that, we’re probably going to say, ‘Look, we can’t win this.’ Because both were stalking horses.” If I were an agent, that’s what I would do. That’s a perfectly good strategy. In other words, it’s smart. But at the end of the day, I think he loves New York. ”
