Michael Kay is pouring some water on the hot stove for Yankees fans.
The Yankees’ television broadcaster believes owner Hal Steinbrenner is not going to go dollar for dollar with Mets owner Steve Cohen in the bidding war for prized free agent Juan Soto and said he heard from a baseball source that Cohen intends to outbid any offer by $50 million.
Kay introduced his point while referencing former MLB player Carlos Baerga’s unconfirmed report that the Mets have offered Soto $660 million.
“Here’s the thing that scares me,” Kay said Monday on “The Michael Kay Show” while noting that Baerga is “locked in” with Latin players.
“I would put it this way and this is not something that Yankees fans are going to want to hear. I don’t think the Yankees are going to go there. I don’t. Then I’ve heard from somebody in baseball today that Cohen’s willing to go $50 million over whatever anybody offers. So it looks like the Mets really want to get this guy. So, every report I’ve seen is that there have been no offers made but Baerga, who is usually locked into this stuff, said it’s $660 (million) for 15 years.”
Kay is obviously plugged into the Yankees organization since he works for them and previously covered them before transitioning to his television and radio career.
There have been questions about the levels to which Steinbrenner is willing to spend, both overall and for Soto.
The Post’s Jon Heyman reported that the “perception” around baseball is the Yankees hold “some sort of edge” given Soto enjoyed his time In The Bronx.
The Mets met with Soto last week, while the Yankees had their visit Monday.
The Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers are also in the hunt, with Los Angeles entering the fray due to the savings from Shohei Ohtani’s deferred deal.
“This is just my gut feeling, and a couple people I talked to today, I don’t think he’s going to be denied in terms of overbidding for someone,” Kay said of Cohen.
“I would think if Juan Soto returns to the Yankees, then their gambit of making that trade for him — well it paid off in one way, it got them to the World Series, he certainly played a large role, and that maybe he did fall in love with the experience and wants to come back.
“But if what I believe, is that it’s going to come down to the most money, and I simply think that’s going to be the Mets, I really do.”