Hal Steinbrenner matches Steve Cohen with planned Juan Soto recruiting trip

Since it is far past five days after the 2024 World Series, free agents are free to sign wherever they so choose. The top free agent this winter is undoubtedly outfielder Juan Soto, who just finished his lone season with the New York Yankees. The team needed to win after giving up a prized package of players for one year of Soto, and got an American League pennant out of it.

Considering Soto is the top player and, quite honestly, a generational player, he will command a ton of attention this offseason from a variety of teams. So much so, that he is expected to command a $600 million contract.

The Mets are considered a serious contender to land Soto this winter, due in part to the finances team owner Steve Cohen has at his disposal. In fact, Cohen is set to meet with Soto and his agent Scott Boras next week in Southern California.

The pressure has seemingly been placed on Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, who, according to Mark W. Sanchez and Jon Heyman of the New York Post, is set to meet with Soto in California in a week and a half.

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Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner set to meet with Juan Soto in California

Could Steinbrenner be feeling the pressure that Soto could leave this winter?

Soto knows what the Yankees organization is about after spending one season with them. In fact, Soto and Steinbrenner met during this season, but it really had nothing to do about a potential contract extension. But why does Steinbrenner need to fly out to meet Soto?

At the MLB general manager meetings, Boras said that Soto wants to meet face-to-face with team owners to not only discuss his free agent value, but alsotheir plans on how to build a consistent winner. So yes, Soto wants to reset the market, but he also wants to be on a team committed to winning and having a decent shot at winning the World Series.

Soto is coming off a season in which he recorded a .288 batting average, a .419 on-base percentage, a .569 slugging percentage, 41 home runs, 109 RBI, 128 runs, and 166 hits in 576 at-bats. In the postseason, Soto recorded a .327 batting average, a 1.101 OPS, four home runs, nine RBI, 12 runs, and 16 hits in 49 at-bats (14 games).

Steinbrenner has stressed an importance in lowering the payroll in the future, but he knows he can't afford to lose a player like Soto, especially after the team was three wins short of winning their first World Series title since 2009. But, how high would Steinbrenner be willing to go on his offer? With Cohen being a serious threat, we'll find out if Steinbrenner can do enough to convince Soto to stay.