Hal Steinbrenner sends a message to Steve Cohen, Mets, with Juan Soto’s latest offer

The Juan Soto sweepstakes has been everything for the New York Mets lately. The team’s meeting with Soto – particularly the only one that took place outside of agent Scott Boras’ headquarters – seemed to go as well as it could have, and everyone around the league seems to believe that owner Steve Cohen had no intention of doing so has to do so without losing a bidding war to anyone. The Mets have a competitive roster, the familiarity of New York and a bottomless Scrooge McDuck vault full of money – all the ingredients needed to be considered the favorite.

All of this was pretty much the worst-case scenario for their cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers need Soto just as badly as the Mets, and as each subsequent report made it seem like a move to Queens was inevitable, Yankees fans grew increasingly concerned. After all the good vibes from last season, the league’s richest franchise was ready to cheapen out once again, to its little brother no less.

But it turns out that reports of the Yankees’ demise may have been greatly exaggerated. Just when the Yankees needed a big swing to turn the tide, owner Hal Steinbrenner appeared to have done just that.

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While the tender for Soto is still in its early stages, with teams submitting initial offers this week and negotiations getting underway before the winter meetings in early December, the Yankees appear to be wasting no time in making it clear how much they want to come back their all-star outfielder. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, New York “has already updated its original offer in the last few days.”

“The incumbent Yankees make it clear that they are determined to maintain their top priority,” Heyman writes, “but they also understand that the much-publicized derby doesn’t happen until the middle of the inning. The situation remains fluid, with four or more.” Other interested teams still have the chance to win the winter prize.”

Heyman added that Cashman also held introductory meetings with Max Fried and Corbin Burnes as the team also considers expanding its rotation to work with Gerrit Cole. It’s unclear if this is just a Plan B in case Soto moves on, or if Steinbrenner is finally ready to really blow his budget to try to win the team’s first World Series title since 2009. But the newfound aggressiveness appears to be making an impression on Soto and suggests New York could be willing to match the Mets dollar for dollar if the tender is in the $700 million range.