In the lead-up to what would become the largest deal in sports history, Steve Cohen found himself initially convinced he wouldn't be the one to make it. Arriving at Vitolo in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday night, he dined with a friend feeling defeated. For over a month, Cohen had spared no effort to persuade Juan Soto, one of the most gifted hitters in Major League Baseball, to spend the rest of his career with the New York Mets. He painted a vivid picture of the Mets' future and Soto's crucial role in delivering their first World Series title in nearly four decades. He emphasized the team's family atmosphere, a key element in their pitch to free agents since Cohen took over the franchise in 2020. Yet, he still feared it might not be enough to keep Soto from returning to the Mets' cross-borough rivals, the New York Yankees.

The Call That Changed Everything

As Cohen was about to enjoy his pork chop with sweet vinegar and hot cherry peppers, his phone rang. On the other end was Scott Boras, the renowned agent who had negotiated billions in contracts. Soto, a rare 26-year-old reaching free agency, was his prized client. Boras didn't offer a fixed price to end the negotiations. Offers kept increasing by tens of millions, yet they still weren't sufficient. His carrot-and-stick approach, showing teams they were in the bidding while reminding them they needed to go further, had worked wonders.The tone of this conversation was different. Cohen couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Usually, I'm quite good at reading the signals. This time, I completely missed it," he told ESPN. "Scott called me, and I realized, 'Holy shit. This could actually happen.' I had no expectations. I was blown away."Quickly, the pessimism that had enveloped Cohen at the start of dinner began to fade. This was it. This was how the New York Mets, a franchise often defined by its dysfunction rather than success, would be reborn. Soto and his family had made their decision. He wanted to be a Met, to leave the Bronx and move to Queens, to change the trajectory not only of Major League Baseball but of all professional sports. Cohen's generous offer - 15 years for $765 million with no deferred money and a $75 million signing bonus - had won the most intense free agent race in nearly a quarter-century.

The Final Details

In the following hours, as Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns prepared to fly to Dallas for MLB's annual winter meetings, he and Cohen worked out the fine details of the agreement with Boras. Cohen is one of the 100 richest people in the world, worth more than $20 billion and a connoisseur of fine art with a collection valued at over $1 billion. Only after the news of the agreement broke and Mets fans celebrated while Yankees fans burned No. 22 jerseys, and the emotions that only sports can evoke filled the air, did Cohen truly grasp the significance of what was happening, a transformation of the Mets both on and off the field.For a man who had spent his career winning in various fields, this victory was particularly meaningful. Convincing Juan Soto to leave the most storied franchise in North American sports and join the Mets was a civic achievement, something to be relished by the countless people who had spent their lives passionately rooting for a team that had faced so much adversity. "I totally underestimated how people would respond to this," Cohen said. Whether it was the words of a person who didn't want to celebrate too much against a Yankees organization he genuinely liked or someone starting to understand the far-reaching impact of the contract he offered, it didn't matter. Juan Soto is now a New York Met, and this is the story of how it all came together.