You all know the quote from the Jerry Maguire movie: “Show me the money!” Well, Steve Cohen did just that for Juan Soto and there is officially a changing of the guard in New York. SU has felt this coming for several weeks now. Soto is just the latest of several stars who have said “no thank you” to Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees. We had Ohtani (twice), Yamamoto, and now Soto.

The Soto defection is especially painful as he played in the Bronx for a full season, won the adoration of the fans and even played in a World Series. From all reports that SU has read, it does appear that Hal backed up the truck with a lot of money to keep Soto in pinstripes – way more than he was likely comfortable with but felt he owed it to the fans. However, Steve Cohen was not going to be outbid, and it would therefore come down to Soto and if playing at Yankee Stadium with the history, championships, aura, etc. was worth literally a few million dollars less than $765 million.

Soto showed he is a mercenary – took the maximum dollars. SU will not knock him for that. For him, the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays – they’re all just MLB Clubs. He wanted the biggest contract of all time – that was the goal. I am sure he will say all the right things at his press conference this week but it’s clear he wanted the money in the end. Credit to him. He was in his walk year and put up huge numbers playing for the Yankees with many, many dramatic moments along the way. A big time player in a big time market.

Time will tell, of course, if he is worth that money in his mid-late 30s. We know those contracts don’t end well. And time will tell if Steve Cohen does not care about paying the luxury taxes each year as he will still need to upgrade the Mets’ roster in a major way. They are far from a finished product. For SU, the bottom line is this: huge, huge get for the Mets, and another instance for the Yankees and Hal of being knocked down a peg.

We now wait to see what Brian Cashman has for his plan B. SU is not optimistic. Do not overpay for the older free agents with long term deals (looking at you Alex Bregman). For a fan, we enjoy watching young players figure it out and become really good players. There is no joy in watching players like Stanton and Rizzo decline over time. It is not inspiring. I do believe Cashman will act quickly now so buckle up.

So, Yankee fans: are you pissed off? Will you boo Soto when he comes to the Bronx? And Met fans: what comes next? Is it too much money? Or do you have bragging rights for the next 15 years?