The Mets aren’t the little brother anymore.
At least that’s the way Mets broadcaster Howie Rose seemed to see it after the club landed Juan Soto on a historic 15-year, $765 million contract on Sunday night.
Mets fans were basking in the glory following the news, and the team’s long-time radio voice took to social media to speak about the important moment in context of the franchise’s history and standing in New York.
“This is perhaps the most unique moment in the history of the New York Mets,” Rose wrote. “I told you from day one that Steve Cohen was not about to be the little brother in town. He was taking dead aim at the Yankees and everyone else. It’s on.”
Rose wasn’t the only Mets broadcaster who tried to put the moment in perspective.
During a hit on SNY’s breaking news coverage of the Soto signing, Gary Cohen described it as “the biggest and most important transaction the Mets have ever made.”
“The only one that is in the same ballpark was the trade for Mike Piazza in 1998,” Cohen continued. “The Mets have never dipped this deeply into the free agent market in terms of the caliber of player and youth. The thing that would come closest to that would have been signing Carlos Beltrán, but Beltrán wasn’t 26 years old when the Mets signed him. Soto just turned 26.
“He is arguably the best hitter in baseball, if not he’s in the top three, and did I mention he’s just turning 26? He’s got seven years under his belt. He is a marvelous, marvelous offensive player and completely changes the conversation around the Mets.”
Soto’s decision was a massive moment for the Mets, as the slugger spurned an offer from the Yankees for 16 years and $760 million, according to The Post’s Jon Heyman.
Soto is coming off a season where he hit a career-high 41 homers and helped the Yankees reach the World Series for the first time since 2009.
