The New York Yankees are nearing the home stretch in the sweepstakes to sign superstar free agent Juan Soto, and there are plenty suitors in the mix.
Though the Yankees reportedly upped their offer before Thanksgiving, one MLB insider still believes there’s another team viewed as the favorite around the league.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, that team is the crosstown rival of the Yankees with the owner that holds the deepest pockets in the league.
“The Mets are the clear-cut favorite, executives say, simply because they don’t believe there’s a soul who will outbid owner Steve Cohen, while Yankees have a price in mind that they don’t want to exceed,” Nightengale wrote.
The Mets have long been considered the biggest threat to steal Soto away from the Yankees after his lone season in The Bronx.
Soto is projected to land a contract somewhere in the range between $600-700 million.
Whether the Mets would be able to sign Soto and also bring back slugger Pete Alonso while adding a top-tier arm to the rotation remains to be seen, but they have been firmly in the mix for the 26-year-old throughout the entire process.
Soto is coming off a magnificent season in which he posted a career-high 41 home runs to go along with a .989 OPS.
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