Mets steal Yankees' thunder once again after meeting with top free agent

The New York Mets made the biggest splash of the offseason by winning the Juan Soto sweepstakes. In what turned out to be a high-priced bidding war, the Mets won out by signing Soto to a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract. That beat the bid by the Yankees, who offered $760 million over 16 years. This did sting for the Yankees, who traded away five players to the San Diego Padres last winter, and got one season's worth of Soto.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman pivoted, making three big moves. The team signed Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract to put in the rotation behind Gerrit Cole. Then, they traded Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin to the Milwaukee Brewers for All-Star closer Devin Williams. This past Tuesday, the Yankees traded Cody Poteet to the Chicago Cubs for utilityman and former NL MVP Cody Bellinger.

During Fried's introductory press conference, Cashman spoke with reporters and revealed that the team wasn't done meeting with top free agents. Specifically, they had an in-person meeting set up with Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki in California.

Well, much like they did with Soto, the Mets have stolen the Yankees thunder with Sasaki. SNY's Andy Martino reported that the Mets have met in person with Sasaki on Thursday. The New York Post's Jon Heyman and Mark W. Sanchez confirmed that the Mets did meet with Sasaki in Los Angeles.

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Mets meet with top free agent Roki Sasaki

How ironic that the Mets met with Sasaki one day after Cashman revealed the team's plans to speak with Sasaki. This wasn't intentional by any means, it's just the Mets had their meeting scheduled one day after the Fried press conference in the Bronx.

Sasaki is going to be the most sought-after player in free agency not named Juan Soto. Sasaki is 23-years-old, and won't command a gigantic contract due to the fact that he's an amateur, international free agent. So, teams can only sign him with their international bonus pool money. Hence why a bunch of teams have expressed interest. However, only teams that Sasaki has interest in will receive a in-person meeting. So, the Mets and Yankees have made the cut.

This past season with Nippon Professional Baseball's Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki recorded a 2.35 ERA, a 1.036 WHIP, a 10-5 win-loss record, 129 strikeouts, and 32 walks in 111.0 innings (18 games). Overall, in four seasons, Sasaki tallied a 2.10 ERA, a 0.894 WHIP, a 29-15 win-loss record, 505 strikeouts, and 88 walks in 394.2 innings.

Sasaki can only sign between Jan. 15-23, which is when the international signing period officially opens up.

It will be interesting to see who wins the Sasaki sweepstakes. The overwhelming belief is that Sasaki will sign with either the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres. Yet, Sasaki is interested in both the Yankees and Mets enough that he accepted in-person meetings with both. It will be something if the Mets are able to sign another top free agent away from the Yankees in the same winter.