The Yankees’ meeting with Juan Soto ensures they won’t have the final say

The moment New York Yankees fans have been waiting for finally arrived on Monday afternoon, as a delegation consisting of owner Hal Steinbrenner, GM Brian Cashman and (for better or for worse) manager Aaron Boone met with the prized free agent Juan Soto and agent Scott Boras in Southern California. The pressure on this meeting had only increased in recent days, with AL East rivals in Boston and Toronto both selling Soto on their vision and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen reportedly willing to do whatever it took to win the highest bidder to be. The competition for the 26-year-old is fierce, and this was the Yankees’ best chance to sell him by staying in the Bronx.

Let’s talk about the good news first: According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post and others, the New York conversation with Soto went “very well”; it seems Soto really loved his year with the Yankees, and the team made it clear how much it wanted him back. Unfortunately, the meeting also brought less good news: contrary to what we initially thought, it turns out that New York will not have the last word with Soto after all. And the next team should have the Yankees brass very, very nervous.

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Soto and Boras are not quite done with the meetings yet. There’s one team left: the Los Angeles Dodgers, fresh off an impressive win over Soto and the Yankees in this year’s World Series.

We knew the Dodgers would at least kick Soto’s tires — they’re the Dodgers, they kick everyone’s tires — but how realistic this possibility was remained an open question. Los Angeles always has some money lying around (especially since Shohei Ohtani deferred almost all of his massive contract), but with Ohtani regularly needing the DH spot and plenty of holes to fill the starting rotation, shooting for Soto did just that not. It doesn’t seem like the best use of the team’s resources. Last week, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Dodgers “will not pursue” the outfielder, suggesting teams like the Yankees and Mets would be more motivated to get a deal done if push came to shove.

But can we really be so sure of that? LA is not one to be used as leverage in a bidding war; The fact that Soto and Boras are granting the team a meeting suggests that they’ve communicated Boras seriously enough to at least earn a seat at the table (and that Soto is at least open to a return to the West Coast). And that’s a very, very scary proposition, because if the Dodgers are willing to put up the money, their pitch for Soto is as strong, if not stronger, than any other potential suitor.

Soto seems to value consistent struggle above all else, and what team could provide that more convincingly than Los Angeles? This core isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and the team’s financial power and player development track record suggest they can provide reinforcements as Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman come out of their prime. You still have to consider the Yankees and Mets favorites at this point: They have plenty of money of their own, and they’re even more desperate to land Soto. And the Dodgers have lost bidding wars before; they ultimately withdrew from the Gerrit Cole sweepstakes a few years ago when things got too rich. But the Yankees can’t feel too good about having their good vibes immediately picked up by the team that just embarrassed them in October.