Steve Cohen now operating with a Mets budget is always subject to change

The Mets are suddenly in the same place strategically trying to replace Pete Alonso as the Yankees were when Juan Soto left for the Mets. Cue, the irony. 

Basically, both were willing to spend a dollar to keep their sluggers, but when he left they decided the best use of money was to split that into four quarters — a quantity of helpful players in place of the quality of one. 

As one rival AL executive said about the Yankees, “Breaking up [Aaron] Judge and Soto is real. It was special. And it might bite them. But with their budget, they were better off with what they did. They would have had Soto and a lot more holes. This way they have a better overall team.” 

Hal Steinbrenner puts real payroll limits on the Yankees, albeit they still projected at just beyond $300 million for luxury-tax purposes — currently behind only the Dodgers and Phillies. So, if Soto had taken the Yankees’ $760 million offer, they would not have also done Max Fried and possibly not Cody Bellinger either.