DALLAS — Brian Cashman recalls reading stories in 2008 that compared his ability to close the CC Sabathia free agency deal to the former coach of his beloved Kentucky Wildcats, John Calipari, walking into a five-star recruit’s living room and securing a commitment.
The story of how the New York Yankees landed Sabathia was much simpler than an intricate narrative of how the club needed to lure him with an extravagant presentation. Nothing convinced Sabathia to sign with the Yankees other than one thing.
“The truth of the matter is I hit him over the head with a big bunch of cash,” Cashman said. “That story wasn’t written as much. It’s like, ‘Wow! It makes me sound like I’m Superman and I have this great aura.’ In reality, we had, by far, the highest offer.”
Sixteen years later, the Yankees are dealing with the fallout of losing Juan Soto to the New York Mets. A report by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman suggested that the Mets’ inclusion of a free suite at Citi Field for Soto’s family “probably helped push them over the finish line.” The Yankees would not include a free suite in their 16-year, $760 million offer to Soto because it’s not something they have previously done with other high-priced players. Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodón currently don’t have access to a free suite for their family members. Sabathia, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez never had access to one, either.
Soto is scheduled to talk with reporters at a news conference in Queens on Thursday. No one knows why Soto ultimately chose the Mets over the Yankees — it could simply be because Steve Cohen offered $45 million more than Hal Steinbrenner — but Cashman is convinced that any notion that a free suite was the determining factor can be dismissed.
“I don’t think the suite is a possession arrow one way or the other, especially when you’re making that kind of money,” Cashman said. “We provide a suite for the family members, for the wives. We’re probably one of the more unique organizations that provide seats outside automatically, but we do provide a suite because of the weather. If they want to be upstairs, they have a choice. We have a great family room set up with babysitting. It’s a great, safe setup to take care of families.
“When we have a roster with a lot of great players and high-end players, we’ve gone through a process in previous negotiations where (suite discussions occurred) and that is what we did. We’re gonna honor those. No regrets there.”
Heyman also reported that Soto was upset early in the season after a Yankees security guard disallowed a family member and a chef to go into a private players-only area. In his meeting with Cohen, his wife, Alex, and the Mets’ traveling secretary, they emphasized how much of a family feel their organization has, perhaps trying to capitalize on the incident with Soto and his family at Yankee Stadium.
A team source said that Soto seemed at the time to quickly understand that the security guard was simply following Yankees policy and that the situation was resolved without any incident.
“That stuff, I never heard about it until after (he signed),” Cashman said. “Nothing came across my desk about some driver not being allowed to drive in or if it was raining. I’ve heard all these different things lately. I never heard that ever happened. It never came up with us. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but if it was such a big deal I would have heard from Scott Boras with what’s going on. I never heard any of that stuff.”
In the end, Soto’s No. 1 reason why he chose the Mets is likely the same reason why Sabathia chose the Yankees in free agency: money.
(Top photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
