Like many in the New York Mets clubhouse, Mark Vientos paid careful attention to what Juan Soto was doing this spring. When you’re defined by greatness, people want to see what makes them great, and how they can emulate it.

Meet the Mets: endearing, entertaining ... and eternal underdogs. But the franchise vibes are changing thanks to a billionaire owner who bleeds orange and blue.

After the meeting ended and Soto departed, Cohen told Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns that Soto was “going back to the Yankees.” But to his surprise, Cohen got a call from Soto’s agent Scott Boras the next morning that stunned the Mets owner.