Frankie Montas is a Met. Does that mean the New York Mets are one step closer to signing Juan Soto? Or one step further away?
Those are the questions running through the mind of many a Mets fans late Sunday night after Montas' signing came out of nowhere. New York was sure to target a pitcher or two in free agency, but there'd been little smoke between the Mets and Montas.
Signing Montas for what feels like an inflated two-year, $34 million contract confirms one thing: The Mets are not afraid to spend money for a player they want. And $34 million certainly isn't enough to drain Steve Cohen's coffers.
Does it mean anything else? Some Mets fans were quick to draw connections between Montas, Juan Soto and their shared agent, Scott Boras.
Links between Frankie Montas and Juan Soto matter less than how the Mets and Scott Boras got the deal done
The Soto connection via Boras is a simple one. Boras is Montas' agent. Boras is Soto's agent. Inking one deal with the Mets certainly doesn't hurt the prospects of the two sides coming to another agreement.
Social media was definitely running with that.
Somewhere tonight, someone is trying to connect the dots to Montas, a Scott Boras client from the Dominican Republic, to the Mets signing Juan Soto https://t.co/WvAhCWIZ8i pic.twitter.com/lHGjeSQf0d
ā Patrick (@SundayMeatballs) December 2, 2024
Galaxy brain take here, but Frankie Montas is a Scott Boras client.
ā Ryan Finkelstein (@FinkelsteinRyan) December 2, 2024
Maybe doing Scottie B a little solid before a Soto deal later this week? š
Thinking randomly about how Scott Boras objectively should want to maintain a good connection with Steve Cohen
ā Eddie (@Easy__Eddie) December 2, 2024
At the same time, Boras is concerned with getting the most money for his clients. He's not going to make it easier on the Mets just because he got another client paid.
There's another connection between Montas and Soto. They're both from the Dominican Republic.
Jose Siri = Dominican
ā Mets Nation (@MetsNationLFGM) December 2, 2024
Genesis Cabrera = Dominican
Frankie Montas = Dominican
Juan Sotoā¦.Dominican pic.twitter.com/uLLvNs8Q6B
Having players from the same country on your team doesn't guarantee the big-name free agent will want to join you. The Yankees have Dominican players as well. But I guess it doesn't hurt to add another.
When it comes down to it, signing Frankie Montas doesn't make it more or less likely that the Mets will sign Soto.
If nothing else, this signing coming out of nowhere is a bigger sign than anything. There is a whole lot of chatter out there about Soto and where he is leaning. But take note of how the Dodgers landed Shohei Ohtani. Teams that work on deals in silence and with minimal leaks are usually best positioned to get them done.
The Mets just proved they can get a deal done quickly and quietly. That's a positive.