Dream Mets free agent target wins auction for a piece of art Steve Cohen would hate

When you have as much money as Steve Cohen, you’re going to need some hobbies. One of his known passions is collecting art. Some questionable purchases of art in the past from the New York Mets owner has the average person wondering if maybe they can accidentally sculpt something the richest owner in MLB would put on display.

Like superstar free agents, Cohen isn’t a fan of every piece of artwork. Included in the pile of hard passes for Cohen’s collection is the painting of Juan Soto in a New York Yankees that went for $16K at the club’s Homecoming Dinner. The winning bid went to the Mona Lisa himself, Soto.

Did Juan Soto spend $16K to tell the Yankees he wants to stay?

Spending $16K on anything is a drop in the bucket for people like Soto, especially when he gets his free agent contract next winter. At least we hope it’s next winter. In the words of Terry Collins, “You gotta give us a shot!”

Next year’s free agent class isn’t shaping up to be a desirable one. Many of the big hitters have been off to slow starts. The pitching market is good with Corbin Burnes at the top of the want list. We can only reasonably expect one of those arms to come to the Mets.

Soto is one of those white whale free agents Mets fans have been dreaming about coming to Queens. Mookie Betts. Shohei Ohtani. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. For some reason they all end up with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only saving grace is most of us are asleep by the time they play half of their games.

Soto remaining with the Yankees would be another kick in the teeth to the most dangerous weapon the Mets have: a rich owner who wants to spend. Unafraid to open his pockets plenty in past winters, the only saving grace from the ongoing season is the possibility of landing a generational player like Soto. One painting doesn’t completely negate the chance. Surely, Jacob deGrom didn’t throw out all of his Mets memorabilia before signing with the Texas Rangers.

We now know Soto has some sort of appreciation for art of himself. When he comes to Steve Cohen’s mansion next December, Banksy should show up to paint a portrait of Soto. That’s one way to turn this $16K painting into some fireplace tinder. Lucky for us dreamers, it's the biggest wad of cash away from happening.