Yankees owner wants a friendship with Juan Soto, similar to the one he has with Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole

The saga of Juan Soto continues and the plot is still unresolved as to what the fate of the Dominican baseball player will be, with the two New York teams as favorites, on the one hand for a return to the Bronx Bombers and, on the other, with the Mets with what is possibly the best offer for a contract with which he can sur the one signed by Japanese star Shohei Ohtani for $700 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The owner of the New York Yankees, Hal Steinbrenner, wants Soto to return and on Wednesday reiterated his commitment to making his friendship with the Dominican similar to the one he has with Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. He also emphasized the team's commitment to continuously improve its roster if the star free agent outfielder stays in the Bronx.

Yankees owner offers details of meeting with Juan Soto

Steinbrenner said the Yankees delegation at Monday's meeting included team president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and senior baseball operations advisor Omar Minaya.

"We had a good meeting. "It was a very honest, back-and-forth dialogue that lasted a couple of hours," Steinbrenner said Wednesday.

When asked how confident he was of keeping Soto, Steinbrenner said: "I have no idea. We'll be in the fight. I'll leave it at that."

"We listen to our fans, right? Our fans really enjoyed having him in New York," Steinbrenner added. "He's definitely an important part of why we got to the World Series. So I have ears. I know what's expected of me."

The meeting lasted about two hours and took place at a hotel near Newport Beach, California, near the office of Soto's agent, Scott Boras, said a person familiar with the session. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because those details were not announced.

"We didn't get to know each other that well," Steinbrenner said. "I was told that he's somebody that when he's in the clubhouse, he's in a zone like no other, and with players like that I just don't like to interrupt that process and take somebody aside, drag them into Boone's office and have conversations. But we talked about it in California and if he comes back next year, I made it clear that the kind of relationship I would like is the kind of relationship I have with Gerrit (Cole) and with Aaron Judge."

Juan Soto listens to offers in free agency

Soto is also meeting with other teams, having already spoken to the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Financial talks are unlikely to begin until next week. The Yankees entered the postseason with a $311 million payroll, second behind the Mets at $332 million.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo, second baseman Gleyber Torres, left fielder Alex Verdugo and reliever Clay Holmes also became free agents, reducing the Yankees' payroll commitments.

"We're in a better starting position than we were a year ago. There's no doubt about it," Steinbrenner said. "Year after year after year, payrolls similar to this year's and the luxury taxes they produce are not sustainable, they're not feasible, and that's the case for the vast majority of owners, maybe all owners, year after year after year. It doesn't mean that in any given year I can't do what I want to do. We have the ability to hire any player we want to hire."

About the competition from Steve Cohen's New York Mets for Soto, Steinbrenner said: "Of course it's a concern. If it doesn't work out, it's going to hurt a little bit wherever he goes."