Mets free-agent pitch to Juan Soto improves with every Aaron Judge strikeout

Juan Soto's debut season with the New York Yankees could not have gone much better. From the moment that the trade that sent him to the Bronx was completed, he was instantly a fan favorite among Yankees fans, for obvious reasons. That love affair between Yankees fans and Soto continued all season long, as the star outfielder put up a monster year in pinstripes.

Soto's season has only gotten better in October, as he led the Yankees to an American League pennant — the team's first since 2009. Soto's home run in Game 5 of the ALCS sent them to the Fall Classic, and he homered again in Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to get New York on the board.

Unfortunately, the Yankees lost Game 2, putting them in the difficult position of having to win four of the next five games against a loaded Dodgers team. And Soto's running mate is a big reason why: Aaron Judge continues to look completely lost at the dish, going 1-for-9 with six strikeouts so far in the series (including 0-for-4 with three Ks in Game 2) as the Yankees have only scored five runs in the first two games combined. It would be one thing if this was just a one-off thing, but this is shaping up to be just one more bad postseason in a career full of them: Judge entered Saturday's action going 6-for-36 (.167 BA) with two home runs and 16 strikeouts in 10 games this October, and he entered Saturday's action as a career .203 hitter with a .753 OPS in 244 career postseason appearances — a far cry from his .288 regular season average with a 1.010 OPS.

Judge struggling like this and having a long documented history of coming up small in October has to be alarming to a player like Soto, who is set to hit free agency at the end of this season. Does Soto really want to sign a lifetime deal to remain with the Yankees when his sidekick comes up short every year in October? That's an interesting question to ponder, especially when the crosstown rival New York Mets have stars who, like Soto, elevated their levels of play in the postseason.

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Aaron Judge's struggles make the Mets' pitch to Juan Soto look even better

Francisco Lindor won't win the NL MVP award, but he'll likely finish as the runner-up to Shohei Ohtani. More importantly, though, the shortstop was at his best in the biggest moments: Lindor put up an .877 in October, and his grand slam in Game 4 of the NLDS sent the Mets on to the NLCS to face that same Dodgers team Judge can't seem to get anything going against right now.

Another budding star on New York's roster, Mark Vientos, had an .837 OPS in the regular season. That jumped to .998 in October. He hit five home runs and his 14 postseason RBI are still tied for the MLB lead despite the fact that the Mets were eliminated before the World Series. Vientos' many postseason highlights included a grand slam in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Dodgers. Dave Roberts made the decision to intentionally walk Lindor to get to Vientos, much like Roberts walked Soto to get to Judge in Game 1 of the World Series. Vientos went yard, while Judge popped out. Again, Vientos rose to the occasion, while Judge continues to struggle.

Both Lindor and Vientos are locked in for the foreseeable future, and will be part of a Mets core that should be good enough to compete for years to come. Having Lindor and Vientos — two players who rose to the occasion in October — along with a talented core, a strong farm system, the New York market and Steve Cohen's wallet makes for an intriguing pitch for Soto.

The Yankees pitch is a good one too. Soto clearly loves being with the Yankees. Wearing the pinstripes is different. Plus, they'll be competitive every single year; the Mets hope to be and have the pieces to be, but the Yankees have proven that they will be. Still, though, does Soto want to spend the rest of his career playing alongside a superstar who is anything but that when the games matter the most?

At the end of the day, Soto's decision will almost certainly come down to money. Even with what the Mets have to offer, Cohen is likely going to have to outbid Hal Steinbrenner by a decent margin to get Soto to come to Queens. Still, Soto has to be thinking about this. If he wants to win more World Series titles, it'll be really hard for him to do so if his fellow superstar doesn't contribute. The opposite can be said about the Mets: Their stars showed up, and had they had Soto, there's a realistic chance that they would've beaten the Dodgers in the NLCS.

The Yankees will always be in the driver's seat in the Soto sweepstakes until we're given reason to believe otherwise given Soto's comfort with the team, but the Mets have to look more appealing with each passing day when Judge continues to disappoint on the biggest stage.