The Yankees-Mets battle for Juan Soto comes down to the question of how much money you need

Maybe we should wait a few respectful minutes before…

No. Forget that. The door is wide open. The windows are still open. The moment Walker Buehler got Alex Verdugo to wave at that slider in the dirt about 20 minutes before midnight Wednesday, one kind of baseball season ended and another began. The calendar is reversed. Most years it says “November” at the top of the page.

We know better. And we will certainly find out more.

About Sotovember.

The Mets beat the Yankees four out of four times this season; This was a nice win for the Mets. The Yankees lasted a game longer than the Mets this October and can say they recently made the World Series for the first time since 2014. This is a nice win for the Yankees.

Suddenly it all seems like a prologue, like a preface, like a foreword.

Suddenly we are in Sotovember.

And soon the Mets and the Yankees — along with a few special guest stars like the Dodgers and Phillies, maybe the Giants, maybe one or two of Scott Boras' patented “mystery teams” — will see what all is really like .

Soto had one of the most brilliant running years of all time. He turned 26 a week ago. And while he may not have appeared in front of the press for his autopsy early Thursday morning wearing a Boras Company baseball cap like Gerrit Cole did in Houston in 2019, remember that? – he hasn't exactly pledged his immediate and eternal loyalty to the Yankees, either.

“I feel like every team has an equal opportunity,” Soto said. “I don’t want to say anyone has an advantage.”

This isn't exactly Joe DiMaggio's solemn declaration: “I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee.”

Additionally, a player doesn't hire Boras because he doesn't want to squeeze every last cent out of the free agency process (see also: Alonso, Peter).

So we can explain this bizarre bazaar for operation. And while those other teams may still have a say before it's all done, for our purposes, let's simply talk about the most fascinating – and potentially most meaningful – moment in the entire 62-year relationship between the Mets and the Yankees.

Steve Cohen declined to fully participate in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes two years ago, a gentlemanly gesture that almost certainly made Judge's decision – Yankees or Giants? – a little easier. He's not expected to concede this time around, and in fact, starting the bidding in a spot that will make the Yankees cringe a little seems like a safe bet.

That was Cohen's promise from day one. He made exorbitant short-term deals for aging pitchers (Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander). He gave Francisco Lindor 10 years and $341 million, which looks downright frugal after this season as he nears the halfway point of the contract. He briefly offered Carlos Correa a damning 12-year, $315 million contract before Correa's medical information became unclear.

But this?

Well, that's almost too perfect, but here we're quoting Bobby Axelrod – the “Billions” character loosely based on Cohen himself.

“What's the point of having damn money,” says Ax, “if you never say 'Eff you'.”

This was the stunning moment Cohen was waiting for. So there's plenty of money in the Mets' corner (as another likely Cohen inspiration, Gordon Gekko, once said) “to talk about.” fluid. Rich enough to have his own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, 100 million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing.”

(Of course, you can multiply that by at least six, maybe even more. For openings.)

In the Yankees' corner? Well, they're not exactly a team traditionally known for austerity. Even though Steinbrenner's nest egg isn't quite Cohen's, they're still wealthy enough to sit with Cohen at the high-stakes baccarat table. Plus, they're the Yankees, and even if Boras isn't inclined to offer a hometown discount, that could be enough to give the runner-up a tie.

There is also the following:

There is hardly any precedent for any of this. Before the Mets and Yankees teamed up in an unfortunate matchup against Yoshinobu Yamamoto last year, 1980 was the only time the Mets and Yankees faced the same player at full tilt, Dave Winfield, and even though the Mets (under new ownership) were aggressive , they were still four years away from being even remotely competitive. This could have been worth it on June 3, a day when the Mets lost 11 games under .500 while the Yankees hit 23 games over .500 on the same night. This seems like less of an argument now.

But there's also this: When the Yankees and Mets cross swords in any way, it's almost always the Yankees who come out on top. In 1976, at the start of free agency, George Steinbrenner jumped in with both feet while the Mets – still owned by the Whitneys, one of the wealthiest families to ever live in New York – screamed about poverty. That meant that the same year the Yankees regained supremacy, the Mets lost Tom Seaver – who ended up in, of all places, the Yankees' TV booth.

The Yankees made a habit of either saving or reviving a number of Mets stars – David Cone, Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden. When Alex Rodriguez became a free agent in 2000, he forgot what he had become and almost sent roses to his childhood team, the Mets, who never made him an offer. Four years later, he was a Yankee and hit the last 351 of his 696 home runs with them – 99 more than the 252 hit by Strawberry, the Mets' all-time leader.

Oh? And when the Mets signed the man who is arguably the best everyday player in their history right now (Carlos Beltran), Boras made sure to dampen the joy by revealing that he had tried to come back at the last minute and pass the ball get Yankees interested. This was a particularly annoying moment for the Mets.

In fact, you could argue that the first time the Mets beat the Yankees was when they hired Carlos Mendoza from Aaron Boone's team this time last year. That was one thing. That would be something different. Tradition, history and a purpose-built ballpark suggest the Yankees should still be the frontrunner here for Soto. They should be the favorites to win in Sotovemeber.

Still, damn money Is eff-you money.