A few weeks have passed since the New York Mets bested the New York Yankees in the race to acquire the services of Juan Soto for the next decade and a half. Gone are the days of the Yankees as New York’s Goliath and the Mets as David as both teams now stand on equal footing when it comes to flexing their financial muscles to acquire the very best players in the game.

The Yankees have since used the money they had earmarked for Soto in other ways, acquiring Max Fried and Cody Bellinger to the tune of $51 million dollars next season. While both the Mets and the Yankees have holes that need to be addressed at first base both teams may no longer be looking at the top of the market to fill their respective vacancies.

Former Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso entered free agency with many believing he would be the top Soto consolation prize available on the market. However, interest in his services has been slow to develop as concerns about how his profile will age over a long-term contract while the qualifying offer compensation has also been a deterrent.

Those factors may lead him to sign elsewhere for a cheaper-than-expected deal though that still might not lead to a reunion between him and the Amazins.

Alonso is already off the table for the Yankees with them coming to terms with 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year $12.5 million deal to serve as a stopgap in 2025. If the Mets follow suit with a stopgap option of their own that could set the stage for a bidding war in 2025 for another young, Dominican-born superstar as the clubs jockey for Big Apple supremacy.

The NY Mets and Yankees could engage in a risky battle to land Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2025’s free agency

Toronto Blue Jays’ superstar, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is set to hit free agency next offseason ahead of his age-27 season. The son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Vladdy Jr.’s mix of youth, pedigree, and performance gives him an allure that Alonso and others can’t compete with.

Last season, Guerrero posted a ridiculous .323/.396/.544 line and clocked 30 dingers on his way to a 165 wRC+. For reference, Soto hit .288/.419/.569 with 41 long balls to earn a 180 wRC+ in 2024. As you can see, Guerrero is not quite on Soto’s level, however few not named Judge or Ohtani are, but he is really, really close.

Guerrero’s combination of excellent plate discipline, superb contact skills, and prodigious power make him a tantalizing option for the Mets to pair with Soto, while giving the Yankees one of the closes Soto-approximations one can find while also filling a major hole in their lineup.

Passing on a known commodity like Alonso in favor of possibly pursuing Vladdy next season presents some degree of risk for the Mets. For one, the Blue Jays were willing to spend big in the Soto chase, so perhaps they redirect that money to Guerrero Jr in the form of an extension. There’s also the chance that they fall out of the AL East race and trade him at the deadline to a team willing to lock him up long-term.

Finally, it’s important to remember that his father famously spurned the Mets in favor of signing with the Angels, and was rumored not to want to play in New York, though it’s unclear if the younger Guerrero shares those sentiments.

In any case, for a team with World Series aspirations passing on good players that fill needs in the hope that a better player may become available down the road could be a recipe for disaster. The Mets and Yankees may duke it out again for the top free agent on the market, but they may never get that chance.