This, Steve Cohen noted, was different from other free-agent courtships.
This was an in-his-prime superstar, a player that could further transform the Mets, who had already proven he could handle New York City.
He wasn’t going to let a dollar figure prevent him from landing Juan Soto.
In fact, when he hired president of baseball operations David Stearns just over a year ago, they talked about pursuing Soto.
“One thing I learned a long time ago: If you want something that’s amazing, it’s going to be uncomfortable,” the Mets’ owner said Thursday at Citi Field after Soto was introduced to the media. “It’s never going to be comfortable. So I always stretch a little bit because I know what it takes to get it done.”
Cohen didn’t blink at giving Soto the biggest contract in professional sports history, a mammoth 15-year, $765 million deal to switch boroughs, from The Bronx to Queens.
It could be worth as much as $805 million if the Mets choose to void Soto’s opt-out clause after the 2029 season and boost the average annual value of the final 10 years of his deal from $51 million to $55 million. It also included a whopping $75 million signing bonus.
The billionaire owner was all-in on landing Soto, a four-time All-Star who should form a potent 1-2 punch with shortstop Francisco Lindor.
“The opportunity to get a generational ballplayer, you don’t get those opportunities often,” Cohen said.
So much has changed around the Mets since Cohen took over from the frugal Wilpons in November 2020.
They have made the playoffs twice in four seasons, reaching the NLCS in October.
The payroll has risen significantly, and in Soto, the Mets stole a player away from the Yankees.
It’s a Mets fan’s fever dream coming to life.
“My goal was to change how the Mets were viewed [when I bought the team],” Cohen said. “And I think we’re really on the path of changing that. We’re never going to stop, we’re always in a constant state of improvement. … I’m excited by the Mets’ future. I think this accelerates our goal of winning championships.”
During one of the meetings with Soto, the star outfielder asked Cohen how many championships he wanted to win over the next decade.
He told him two to four.
That resonated with Soto.
“That’s what you play baseball for, to be a championship player and try to win as many as you can,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, you can have all the stuff and everything, if you don’t win, it’s kind of hard. That’s what I want to do. I want to have the best chance to win every year, and try to win as many World Series as we can.”
In four seasons, Cohen has already shown how important it is to him to win.
He spent big on Lindor, giving him a 10-year, $341 million contract, and brought in former Cy Young award winners Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
When the two aging aces didn’t work out, Cohen used his wallet to get back quality prospects in trade-deadline moves.
After the Mets surprisingly reached the NLCS a couple of months ago, Cohen pulled out all the stops to add Soto, and the Mets are far from done adding to their team.
“My goal,” Cohen said, “is that the Mets are going to be premier, one of the elite teams in Major League Baseball.’’