DALLAS – Talk about a robbery in New York City. It wasn’t just the best free agent gem the Mets stole from the Yankees; Steve Cohen also hijacked the crown.

Less than two months after Juan Soto helped lead the Yankees to the World Series, Cohen’s Mets blew him away on Sunday with the largest contract in professional sports history. In the end, Soto went to the highest bidder – the Mets’ reported contract with the slugger is worth $765 million over 15 years. But the Yankees’ offer apparently wasn’t that far behind, which raised questions about whether Soto wanted to play in Queens all along.

If that’s the case, there could be several factors that influenced him in a district.

The Yankees’ reported offer of $760 million over 16 years would have given Soto an average annual value of $47.5 million, just $3.5 million per year less than what he earned with the Mets will earn. Soto’s Mets deal also reportedly includes a $75 million signing bonus. If this difference in dollar amount is all that matters to Soto, then it makes sense that he agreed to the highest offer on the table. But since the Yankees’ offer was pretty close to what he ultimately agreed to, it seemed like Soto wanted to make a statement that both fan bases in New York wouldn’t take lightly.

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The Mets — not the Yankees — represented the more attractive long-term destination for Soto, no doubt in part because of how much they were willing to spend. But Cohen also makes it a point to get to know the people in his organization — from the players to the front office staff to the security guards — on an intimate level. He builds that relationship by showing up on the field regularly, walking around the Mets clubhouse and simply always being available. Cohen’s wife, Alex, spends time in the Mets dugout and also meets with the players during batting practice. It’s rare for an owner to be as visible in professional sports as the Cohens were with the Mets. Just look at the situation across the city.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t mingle in the clubhouse and is rarely seen at Yankee Stadium to talk to his players. A former Yankees player who spent eight seasons in pinstripes said he only spoke to Steinbrenner once or twice during his time in the Bronx. Steinbrenner has a closer relationship with captain Aaron Judge, especially after Judge’s hectic free agency in 2022, which led to Steinbrenner answering the phone and inking a long-term pact with the Yankees slugger. The judge confirmed just last month that he had an open line of communication with Steinbrenner and he appreciated the owner’s availability.

Apparently, Steinbrenner doesn’t share the same dynamic with many in the building, let alone the man who was his top priority this winter. Soto asked Steinbrenner when the two teams met in California last month why he didn’t approach him last season in the Bronx, and he wondered why the owner didn’t try to develop a closer relationship with Soto. Steinbrenner, fair or not, said he wanted to give Soto space because he was so clearly locked in and enjoying his best career season, and he didn’t want to get in the way of that.

In the end, waiting to develop a close relationship with Soto may have been a colossal mistake on Steinbrenner’s part.

Cohen’s players regularly express how much they love playing for the Mets because it feels like family. There’s an open trust around Citi Field, especially in this David Stearns/Carlos Mendoza era. Mets players have said they feel like they can be themselves in Queens.

A recent moment that painted a picture of how the Cohens felt like “one of the boys” to left-hander Sean Manaea was when Alex Cohen’s father, affectionately known as Mets Grandpa, was doused with champagne in the middle of their clubhouse after they had advanced to the National League Championship Series.

Through this everyday visibility, Cohen conveys the message that he cares about his team. And for the players who play the 162 games of a season in hopes of reaching October and being the last team standing at the end, the open relationship with the organization’s top teams is important. Shortstop and de facto captain Francisco Lindor says it all the time: It takes every single person in the organization to win, and that includes the ownership’s responsibility to develop a close relationship with the players and the front office working hard works to close gaps in the squad and the manager who stands up for his clubhouse.

As the MLB Winter Meetings take place in Dallas this week, Cohen’s desire to win has never been clearer.

No one was going to stop him from acquiring Soto, let alone the crosstown rival Yankees or the MLB’s luxury tax penalty, if all he had to do was keep increasing his offer. When Cohen bought the Mets franchise in 2020, he said he wanted to win the World Series in the following three to five years. The upcoming season will be Year 5. Snatching Soto from the Yankees was a significant step toward a championship, and the Mets are a threat to win it all as the generational slugger lines up in orange and blue — for the next decade and a half.

Welcome to the newest era of Mets baseball, where the little brother may have just become the tyrant.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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