MLB rumors: Mets already locked in on obvious 2025 free agent target

The Juan Soto era in New York is off to a blistering start. The star outfielder has looked great in Yankee pinstripes, blasting three homers in just nine spring training at-bats entering the day, which already has Yankees fans dreaming big with more than three weeks until Opening Day.

Soto has been one of the best players in baseball since he made his major league debut in 2018 at the age of 19. Now on his third team in three years after the Yankees acquired him from the Padres in a seven-player deal in December, Soto is eager to prove that he can handle the bright lights of New York City.

While the Yankees and their fans are ecstatic to have a player of Soto's caliber to pair with Aaron Judge, they're not the only Big Apple denizens that will be watching the Dominican right fielder with breathless anticipation.

ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted yesterday that word out of Mets camp is that owner Steve Cohen intends to make a push to sign Soto when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Soto, who is a Scott Boras client, is believed by most insiders around MLB to be ready to test free agency at the end of this season, and his list of suitors will be limited only by which teams will be able to meet his undoubtedly high contract demands.

The Mets have the money and the motivation to make a play for Juan Soto next offseason

The Mets, who spent an MLB record $348 million on payroll last year, have opted for a more cost-effective approach this offseason after missing out on signing Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto. New director of baseball operations David Stearns has preached patience and development following a disastrous 2023 season that saw the team miss the playoffs entirely despite employing such high-priced commodities as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, and as a result, expectations for the Mets are much lower than they were at this point last year.

Both future Hall-of-Famers were shipped out at last season's trade deadline, and though the Mets were able to import multiple quality prospects from the Rangers and Astros, they also remained on the hook for much of Scherzer's and Verlander's salary. That number will precipitously decline next year, which could free the team up to make the cannonball-sized splash it'll take to pry Soto away from the Yankees in the free agent market.

Stearns' emphasis on building up the farm system kept the Mets out of the Soto sweepstakes when the Padres were shopping him this winter, but once he reaches free agency, all it takes to sign him is money, and Steve Cohen has no shortage of that, especially once Scherzer and Verlander come off the books.

Of course, the Mets are still dealing with the current question of if and for how much they'll be able to re-sign Pete Alonso. Barring an in-season trade of the power-hitting first baseman, that decision seems destined to remain unanswered until the end of the season, at which point the Polar Bear will also become a free agent.

The Mets have repeatedly stated that they intend to compete this year, but the moderate moves they've made in recent months point to a team that has its focus more squarely set on the future. Top organizational prospects such as Jett Williams (the team's first-round draft pick in 2022), Luisangel Acuna (acquired in the Scherzer deal), and both Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford (the return for Verlander), could all be ready for their big league close-ups on or before Opening Day of next year. That, combined with re-signing Alonso and stealing Soto away from the Yankees, could position the Mets not only as one of the teams to beat in 2025, but as the unquestioned current leader in their heated crosstown rivalry.

Can you imagine a bidding war between the Yankees and Mets for one of the best players in baseball? This would be the Big Apple equivalent of the Civil War. Yankees fans can't wait for the season to begin, especially after seeing Soto's hot start in spring training, but any enjoyment they get from every Soto home run or game-winning hit will be tempered by the knowledge that less than ten miles away, the Mets are lying in wait.