Pretty much everything Juan Soto and his representative Scott Boras could have hoped for to boost the lefty star’s free agency has come to pass.

Soto had a brilliant season after being traded to the Yankees. He then was their best hitter in the postseason. Soto proved that he can handle the pressured market while confirming that he would not be intimidated until October.

And if you could pick any two teams that desperately want a player to drive bidding, it would be the Yankees trying to keep a player away from the Steve Cohen Mets. You really don’t need anything more, but why not bring two desperate teams into the mix: the Blue Jays and the Red Sox? And let the champion Dodgers at least stick around to ensure the honesty of all other applicants.

Because of this, Soto is expected to cross the $600 million mark, and who knows what will happen beyond that? The moons have aligned for him, including the rarity of a player with his hitting ability and youth (26) being available in free agency at a time when hitting has never been more difficult. And that’s why this is expected to go down before the end of the winter meetings next Wednesday… and probably before that.