Mets named top landing spot for Yankees ace in possible blockbuster deal

The New York Mets already have their eyes on potentially stealing a superstar away from the cross-town rival New York Yankees, but could they be in the mix on another?

The Juan Soto sweepstakes will (rightfully) command the attention of the majority of storylines throughout the Major League Baseball offseason, and the Mets seem to be the biggest competition the Yankees face.

Owner Steve Cohen has made it clear he has no qualms about paying superstars, and there's a chance Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is added to the list of potential free agents this offseason.

With the expectation that ace Gerrit Cole will opt out of his current contract , Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller went through naming the top landing spots for the Cy Young winner this winter.

It was established for the purpose of Miller's article that the Yankees would decline to void Cole's opt-out clause by tacking on an extra year at $36 million to his contract. The Yankees are more likely to void the opt-out clause than to let Cole hit the market.

But in this hypothetical scenario the Yankees let Cole test the market, and Miller came to the conclusion that the Mets are the top landing spot for the 34-year-old ace.

"They should have [Kodai] Senga (calf) back at hopefully full strength, and they will have one more year of [Paul] Blackburn after acquiring him at the deadline. However, the current projection is hardly a rotation befitting of a team that is willing to spend like there's no tomorrow," Miller wrote.

"Now, if they win the Juan Soto sweepstakes, it's hard to imagine they would also be able to land Cole. If we put them both at an estimated 2025 salary of $40 million—maybe a bit high for Cole; maybe a bit low for Soto—the Mets would be at $200.5 million just for the octet of Cole, Soto, Senga, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Edwin Díaz."

Miller also brought up the Pete Alonso situation. The Polar Bear is a free agent this winter, and he's likely to command at least $30 million annually on his new contract.

"If anyone would be willing to do it, though, it's Steve Cohen, who ended up spending close to half a billion dollars last season after factoring in the luxury tax penalties," Miller wrote.

The Mets have been one of baseball's biggest surprises this season and are 3.0 games back for the final wild-card spot at 71-64 entering Saturday.

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