3 Mets roster I.O.U.'s Steve Cohen can help deliver to the fans after passing on Shohei Ohtani

2) The Mets owe the fans Juan Soto

Speaking of rarely available free agents with the type of talent you don’t get to sign often, Juan Soto hits the market next offseason. He’s already in town. The Yankees just picked him up in what looks like a somewhat modest deal with the San Diego Padres. As it turns out, trading or Soto wasn’t a farm system-depleting maneuver. All the Padres wanted after all was some pitching.

When Soto does become available next winter, the Mets front office owes it to the fans to make a strong attempt to land him. Soto isn’t as unique as Ohtani. Not even a unicorn who understands every Pearl Jam lyric compares to Ohtani.

Soto is still one of those incredibly gifted players Mets fans have dreamed about ever since Cohen became majority owner. Available at the 2022 trade deadline for a steeper price of prospects, he’ll continue to be brought up as an option for the Mets until he has a long-term deal. They’ve stayed away from any long commitments outside of Francisco Lindor. This needs to change eventually even if it results in a few future seasons where it feels more like an old-timer’s day roster than anything else.

Soto going from the Yankees to the Mets doesn’t feel quite as likely as Yamamoto coming to town, maybe only because it’s so far away. Much closer is this final I.O.U.