The Yankees-Mets fight for Juan Soto comes down to eff-you money question

Perhaps we should wait a respectful few minutes before we …Nah.Forget that.

The door is open wide.The windows are open wider.

The minute that Walker Buehler got Alex Verdugo to wave at that slider in the dirt about 20 minutes before midnight Wednesday, one kind of baseball season ended and another began.The calendar has flipped.

Most years it says “November” at the top of the page.We know better.And we’re certainly about to know even more.About Sotovember.The Mets beat the Yankees four times out of four for the season; that was a nice win for the Mets.

The Yankees lasted one round further than the Mets this October, and for the first time since 2014 can say they’ve been to the World Series more recently.That’s a nice win for the Yankees.Suddenly, all of that seems like prologue, like prelim, like preface.Suddenly we are in Sotovember.And soon, the Mets and the Yankees – along with a few special guest stars like the Dodgers and Phillies, maybe the Giants, maybe one or two of Scott Boras’ patented “mystery teams” – will see just how all-in all-in really is.Soto had one of the most brilliant walk years anyone’s ever had.

He turned 26 one week ago.And while he may not have shown up for his post-mortem with the press early Thursday morning with a Boras Company baseball hat like Gerrit Cole did in Houston in 2019 – remember that? – he didn’t exactly pledge his immediate and eternal fealty for the Yankees, either.“I feel every team has the same opportunity,” Soto said.

“I don’t want to say anybody has an advantage.”Which isn’t exactly Joe DiMaggio solemnly declaring, “I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee.”Besides, a player doesn’t hire Boras lest he intends to squeeze every last nickel out of the free agency process (see also: Alonso, Peter).So we can declare this bizarre bazaar open for business.And while those other teams may well have a say in this before it’s all done, for our purposes let’s jus...