The first round of Soto meetings were rather predictable. Scott Boras and Co. did not want offers on the table early in the process, but rather asked teams to make their best pitc

As the richest owner in baseball, the splashy moves began in 2022 when then-general manager Billy Eppler made a big swing by signing Scherzer to a record annual contract, along with supplementary deals to add Starling Marte and Mark Canha and a trade to land Chris Bassitt. Suddenly, the Mets had the second-highest payroll in baseball.