Not long after it was learned that Juan Soto planned to leave the New York Yankees in free agency and join the New York Mets, MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Soto became upset early last spring after “an overzealous Yankees security guy…disallowed a family member and his chef/driver from certain areas.”
In a piece published Friday, Bob Klapisch of NJ Advance Media discussed how that incident contributed to Soto’s relocation from the Bronx to Queens ahead of Christmas.
“Soto’s father was booted from an area of the ballpark that was off-limits to those without special tickets,” Klapisch explained. “I was told the section in question was the luxury Delta Suites, which can cost up to $20,000 per game. Soto’s father told the security guard of the family connection: Juan was his son. Didn’t help. The Sotos were told to leave. The soon-to-be-free-agent never forgot the slight.”
Klapisch confirmed a previous story that shared Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner declined to offer the Soto family a suite during offseason negotiations. Current team captain Aaron Judge and Yankees legend Derek Jeter have previously paid for their suites. Still, Mets owner Steve Cohen included a suite for the Sotos at Citi Field in his final offer to the All-Star outfielder.
Individuals such as legendary Yankees announcer John Sterling have scoffed at the idea that a suite had any impact on Soto’s final decision. They’re convinced the 26-year-old simply took the most money and agreed to a 15-year, $765M contract with the Mets that could exceed $800M total after the Yankees stopped at $760M over 16 years.
That said, there was never any indication that Judge would’ve cared about his deal being worth less than half of what Steinbrenner offered Soto. This suggests that Judge wouldn’t have been bothered had the Soto family been given a free suite at Yankee Stadium.
“[Awarding the suite] was really nice of [Cohen],” Soto said during his official Mets introduction on Thursday. “It was really special what he was willing to do for my family.”
Heyman also noted that Soto “got security for himself and family at home and on the road and additional notation for ‘family services'” from the Mets. Considering how much money Soto will make, what may seem like little things to outsiders clearly meant a lot to the slugger.
“They are the right family: A family that wants to win, but they definitely want to take care of their players and their families and stuff,” Soto said Thursday about the Cohens, according to Joe Pantorno of amNewYork. “That’s one of the things I always like.”
By not outbidding Cohen, Steinbrenner bet that he and senior vice president/general manager Brian Cashman won’t need Soto to help Judge earn at least one World Series ring before the 32-year-old is no longer in his prime. Steinbrenner’s gamble that the Yankees’ history and tradition would appeal to Soto didn’t pay off, and fans of the Bronx Bombers will be left wondering what could have been if Cohen gets his hands on the Commissioner’s Trophy before Steinbrenner does over the next decade.