Sal Licata broke the news of Juan Soto signing a record $765 million deal with the Mets while on the Rico Brogna podcast with Evan, Loogy, and Hoff on Sunday night, and right after, he jumped on the FAN with Rickie Ricardo to give his instant reaction.
Safe to say he was fired up.
“King Cohen delivered!” Sal said. “The Yankees have been the big brother for years, and today...for once, little bro punched back. Juan Soto is coming to Queens.”
Sal always maintained his belief that the Mets would land the superstar free agent thanks to Steve Cohen’s wealth, but he was stunned when he learned that the Yankees final offer was just $3 million less than the Mets offer in terms of AAV, with an extra year on the offer, and Soto still chose the Mets.
“The Mets and Yankees were very close in the offer,” Sal said. “I never would have thought it would be an under $10 million difference. I never thought it would be that close, and that Soto would choose the Mets.”
As for the reported opt out in the contract after five years, Sal is not worried about that in the slightest, as an opt out would likely mean that Soto had spent the previous five years excelling in Queens.
“He’s gonna be here for the key years of his prime at 26 years old,” Sal said. “And that’s all that matters.
“It had to happen. If it was not now, it was never...Juan Soto is as much a sure thing as you can bet on. This had to be the guy. There’s nobody next year or the year after that. This had to be the move. It was the perfect storm.”