Heyman: Meeting helped Hal Steinbrenner/Juan Soto relationship that lacked during season
MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post joined Philly sports radio’s Ike, Spike, and Fritz on Thursday to talk Juan Soto sweepstakes, and while it was mainly from a Phillies perspective, Heyman took some time to add some perspective to the Yankees’ pursuit of the free agent superstar.
Coming off of Soto’s meeting with Hal Steinbrenner and company earlier this week, Heyman reported that the face-to-face meeting was a good way for Soto and Steinbrenner to establish a relationship that was apparently lacking during Soto’s debut season in pinstripes.
“From my understanding, it did go very well, and he started to establish a rapport with Soto, which was missing during the season,” Heyman said. “Soto, I’m sure knows this…Hal Steinbrenner has a great rapport with Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole, longtime Yankees in their 30s, and really left Soto alone.
“He may have done that by design, didn’t want to disrupt him. I think they had an explanation for that. But it was good that they got together and I think he gave himself a bit of a boost with that.
Steinbrenner could have given Soto space during his contract season, though Soto didn’t shut down the idea of extension talks during the season (even if it was widely assumed that Soto never would have committed long term before hitting the open market for what could be the only time in his career). It was Steinbrenner’s presence and involvement in negotiations with Aaron Judge two years ago that kept the superstar in the Bronx long term, and he could be getting himself more involved in the Soto sweepstakes now that the two have sat down at length, something that apparently didn’t happen during the season.
Regardless of the relationship between player and owner, Heyman still believes it will simply come down to the money.
“I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t go to the high bidder,” Heyman said. “Very few free agents will admit that is the priority, but that is the reality of the situation.”
