Why Steve Cohen was convinced he lost Juan Soto

However, the Mets would have a much less optimistic outlook for this coming season if owner Steve Cohen's initial belief about his team's chances of landing Soto were accurate.

In a March 25 article from Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, he depicts where the Mets stood after the initial round of contract offers for Soto.

"When Cohen made his first offer for Soto, [Soto's agent Scott] Boras did not need to consult his secret number [about Soto's expected contract value] to know what to make of it," Verducci wrote.

"Boras told Cohen it was the worst of the initial offers he received: 'Steve, you’re not even in the hunt.'

"'All right. I’m out,'" Cohen was quoted saying in the article.

However, Cohen soon told Boras that he was open to entering the hunt, regardless of how much money that would put on the table. But after a meeting with Soto and Boras, where Soto emphasized the lack of lineup protection he'd have in Queens at that point, things were looking bleak — according to Cohen.

"When Soto and his team left the house, Cohen told Stearns, 'He’s going back to the Yankees,'" the article wrote.

“That was my gut feeling,” Cohen said. “I was having a hard time coming up with a reason why he would join us.”

The next morning, Boras called Cohen and told him how well Soto thought the meeting went. And the rest is history.

Cohen not giving up in this Soto pursuit gave Mets fans 15 years of baseball to look forward to.