Takeaways from Part II of 'The Pursuit' Docuseries About Juan Soto Signing

The second part of "The Pursuit" released on the Mets' YouTube channel on Friday, which shed more light on the team's quest to sign Juan Soto in free agency.

Mar 14, 2025; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (22) returns from the field during the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The New York Mets are set to play meaningful baseball in six days, and they celebrated their big offseason acquisition of Juan Soto with a docuseries exploring their pursuit of him.

While Part I focused more on a celebration of the team's 2024 season, Part II shed more light on the actual negotiations.

Read More: Takeaways from Part I of "The Pursuit"

The second episode, which premiered on March 21st on the team's YouTube channel, was insightful for fans looking to examine which of the big rumors surrounding the Soto negotiations were true. One big one that got debunked quickly was the idea that Carlos Mendoza's son knew the contract details; the Mets' skipper confirmed he didn't know they were close to landing Soto until hours before the deal was finalized.

The theme of family played a big part in the second episode, as Alex Cohen weighed in on her presence in the team's initial meeting with Soto at their home in Los Angeles. Cohen said that Soto was surprised by the presence of her father, which was an early indicator of how the Mets want to create a family atmosphere in their organization.

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo also confirmed that he texted Soto to pitch him on the perks of joining the Mets. The conversation went well and debunked speculation that Soto didn't want any players recruiting him to join their team as Nimmo recalled that Soto was open to his message.

Steve Cohen and President of Baseball Operations David Stearns also revealed that one of Soto's primary concerns in their initial meeting was how the team would prioritize consistent contention. The meeting, which was first set after Stearns met with Scott Boras at the GM meetings in November, seemed like it went well but there were no overwhelming indications that the Mets would win the bidding.

"We were going to continue to do everything we could to win." - David Stearns

Available now: The Pursuit: Part II presented by @CohnReznick 🎥👉 https://t.co/ZbyR2gLzTz pic.twitter.com/PnixyNFJGM

— New York Mets (@Mets) March 21, 2025

A second meeting, held at another Cohen residence shortly before Soto made his decision, saw the slugger express his concerns about whether he would have adequate protection in the lineup. Cohen left the meeting feeling pessimistic about the Mets' chances of landing Soto; however, he was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Boras the following day indicating that Soto felt the meeting was a great one.

While the sentiment that the team felt at the time was that Soto would pick the Yankees if he stayed in New York, that changed hours before Soto's decision when Boras called Cohen with a modified offer that lowered Soto's signing bonus in exchange for a higher total. Cohen and Stearns, who was on a plane to the Winter Meetings, then negotiated the remainder of the deal before it came out.

The other interesting piece of the negotiations was that Cohen revealed his bid entering the final day of talks was in the low $700 million range. After hearing from Boras, Cohen upped his bid to around $750 million and talks advanced quickly at that point.

In the end, the documentary seems to imply that the Mets feel their commitment to family values and winning (in addition to a lot of money) helped convince Soto to switch boroughs in the winter. Time will tell how successful the marriage between team and player ends up being.

Recommended Articles:

•

Ex-Mets top prospect opts out of Yankees contract; Should New York Reunite?

•

Mets' Pete Alonso shuts down rumor about Wild Card Series home run

•

Mets reunite with outfielder Billy McKinney on minor league deal

•

Former Mets pitcher praises new approach for David Peterson’s emergence