Welcome to the next round of the Juan Soto competition, the New York Yankees will be among the six or seven teams that advance to this level.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, teams are expected to submit offers for the free-agent slugger this week.
So far, Soto and his agent Scott Boras have been hosting teams to let the 26-year-old get to know the team officials. To date, Soto has met with the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
This is yet another sign that the Soto team may be looking to wrap this process up by next month at Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, as MLB.com reported earlier this offseason.
Most analysts feel the Yankees are jockeying with their cross-town rival Mets and billionaire owner Steven Cohen to land Soto. Both teams are able to spend on big-ticket free agents and also are expected to be competitive for the next few years.
A Yankees contingent that included general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and owner Hal Steinbrenner traveled to California to meet with Soto and Boras. Steinbrenner told reporters that he felt it was a good meeting and the Yankees are in the mix.
A two-time MVP finalist, Soto is a rare free agent who comes onto the market at just 26 years old. He has a career slash line of .285/.421/.532 and is coming off a 41-home run season while leading the Yankees back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
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