A New York Yankees security team member reportedly played a role in Juan Soto’s decision to leave the New York Yankees for the New York Mets in free agency.
On Sunday, news broke that Juan Soto signed a record-setting 15-year deal with the Mets worth $765 million. The deal easily surpasses Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal that was signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers a year ago.
The Yankees and Mets were long regarded as the two front-runners for Soto, with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Dodgers also in the mix. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees’ final offer to Soto was a 16-year pact worth $760 million.
Speaking on MLB Network, Heyman revealed a significant issue that Juan Soto had with a Yankees staffer back in April or May of the 2024 season.
Heyman spoke to Soto personally, and the 26-year-old revealed that a Yankees security member kicked his mother or father out of an area at the ballpark. To make matters worse, that same staffer booted out Soto’s driver and chef from an area in a later incident.
It’s hard to think that the security guard alone cost the Yankees the chance to retain Soto. At the end of the day, it was Steve Cohen and the Mets who presented him the greater financial offer.
Juan Soto Changes The MLB Landscape
Soto’s decision to leave the Yankees for the Mets will greatly alter the landscape of baseball for years to come. The best team in the AL might not even make the postseason in 2024, while the NL runner-ups now have a generational talent to close the gap with the star-studded Dodgers.