Mets were in last place for Juan Soto at the start

When the Mets signed superstar slugger Juan Soto to a record-breaking 15-year, $765 contract this winter, they created history.

However, the Mets were reportedly far from the maximum offer at the start of the negotiations.

John Heyman of the New York Post claims that Soto nearly lost favor with the Mets.

According to Heyman:The Mets almost lost in Round 1 of the tumultuous Soto negotiations, which established three rounds of bidding. According to reports, the Mets bid over $500 million at first, then proposed $41 million year for 12 years before ultimately lowering their proposal by 50%. They were told they were in last place, or close to it, out of the five big-market teams who bid. It looked like the Mets might be leaving soon at that point.

The Mets and its owner, Steve Cohen, offered the outfielder the biggest guaranteed contract in the history of professional sports, so naturally, things worked out.

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“The Mets positioned themselves in the middle of things in Round 2 and acted as though it would be between them and the Yankees at the end,” Heyman said. He adds that the Mets were strategically putting a strong emphasis on family during talks.

With a.989 OPS and career highs in hits (156), runs scored (128) and home runs (41) in 2024, Soto, 26, enjoyed the best 162-game season of his career with the Yankees.

You can contact Bridget Hyland at [email protected].