If the New York Yankees have any advantage heading into the sweepstakes to sign star Juan Soto, it’ll be familiarity. It’s why they have spent their only guaranteed season with the coveted free-agent-to-be trying to learn about what makes him tick. Part of that intelligence-gathering mission included a private meeting between Soto and one of the people who may shape the outcome of winter’s most prominent free agent pursuit: Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner.
The previously unreported meeting, between the market’s top free agent and the owner of one of baseball’s most well-heeled franchises, took place at Yankee Stadium in July, inside a room near the home clubhouse.
“It was good to get to know the owner,” Soto told The Athletic. “Get to see what he’s thinking about me and everything.”
Soto declined to reveal specifics of what he spoke about with Steinbrenner. The owner declined a request for comment via a team spokesperson. Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
But, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation, much of the talk was focused on Soto’s experience so far with the Yankees: How has he enjoyed his time with the team? What could the Yankees do to enhance the experience of playing for them from the standpoint of a player new to the team?
Soto, 25, will have spent all of 2024 wearing pinstripes, hitting in front of slugger Aaron Judge and hearing chants of “Re-sign Soto!” over and over again from Yankees fans desperate for him to stay.
It’s the team’s hope that even when Soto winds up weighing multiple free agency contact offers at the same time this winter — a process that is expected to fetch him a record-setting deal — that he’ll at least still have his Yankees experience fresh in his mind. In May, appearing on a YES Network podcast, Steinbrenner said he would like to see Soto “remain in pinstripes the rest of his career.”
Soto said that he had briefly met with Steinbrenner in spring training before their conversation in July, an interaction that he said he enjoyed. It seemed to leave an impression with a player who will soon have his choice of suitors.
“It’s always good to see (an owner) coming over at least to say hi,” Soto said, “see how we’re doing, what we have in mind, this and that. It’s great to have an owner that really cares for players.”
Soto, already considered one of the best young hitters of all time, is expected to command perhaps the richest free agent contract ever. He’s already made $80.1 million in MLB salaries, according to Baseball Reference, including an arbitration-record $31 million this season from the Yankees. The Athletic’s Tim Britton recently projected a Soto deal that could be worth $560 million.
This season, Soto has arguably been better than ever, clubbing a career-high 41 home runs with 108 RBIs, a .288 batting average and a .990 OPS while playing a solid right field.
“I think anybody would want to be in the history books for the Yankees,” Soto said. “I’ve been trying all year to be part of it — at least even if it’s for one year. I’m trying my best to be around those books with the World Series champions. But we’ll see. We will see how it’s going to be. At the end of the day, you never know if you’re going to be there.”
Since his MLB debut in 2018, he ranks first in walks and on-base percentage and fifth in fWAR among position players. His 201 career home runs are tied for the sixth-most by a big-leaguer prior to his 26th birthday, and he was thrilled last week when he homered in Seattle to give him a home run in all 30 active stadiums.
“What a best way to go into free agency with all 30 ballparks checked (off) my list,” he told reporters at the time.
Though free agency was clearly on Soto’s mind, it’s been clear that he’s thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Yankees, who acquired him in the offseason in a blockbuster trade with the San Diego Padres.
When the Yankees clinched a playoff berth last week, he danced and partied with joy in a champagne-soaked celebration with all his teammates. He’s often seen chatting and smiling with Judge, the team’s captain, and has seemed particularly close with second baseman Gleyber Torres and infielder Oswaldo Cabrera. At Yankee Stadium, when he’s been treated to chants of “Re-sign Soto,” he has acknowledged them with smiles and head nods.
“It’s been great,” Soto said of his time so far in the Bronx. “It was an adjustment when I got here. But shout out to my teammates. They make it really easy for me and make me feel really comfortable when I got over.”
(Top photo of Juan Soto and Hal Steinbrenner: Jessica Alcheh, Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
