Subway Series: offseason edition. Will NY teams compete for these FAs?

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- The Mets never did get a crack at the Yankees in the World Series, falling two wins shy of making that matchup a reality. But they’re certainly going to combat their interborough rivals in another arena.

Many around the game consider the Mets and Yankees the primary two suitors -- if not the only two realistic suitors -- for Juan Soto. Earlier this week at the General Managers Meetings in San Antonio, Yankees GM Brian Cashman acknowledged that he had also spoken to agent Scott Boras about a prominent Mets free agent, Pete Alonso.

At this point in the offseason, it’s not clear to what extent the Mets and Yankees will butt heads on free agents -- only that they absolutely will.

“They want to win,” Cashman said. “They are in a large market with us, had a taste of success this year and they want to move the needle even more forward. The best way to do that is import quality players to what you already have. That is what we, they and anybody interested in winning, being the last team standing -- that is what it’s all about, trying to find great players and add it to your mix.”

This is newsworthy mostly because, historically, the Mets and Yankees have never really pursued the same types of players on the open market.

A quick history lesson: In the early days of free agency, the Mets wooed Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield but finished behind the Yankees in both pursuits. They didn’t lock horns much after that, notably signing Carlos Beltrán to a record contract in 2005 after the Yankees declined to put a bid on him. Half a decade later, the Mets entered a long period of austerity from which they’ve only recently emerged. When Aaron Judge became a free agent two offseasons ago, the Mets chose not to pursue him. Last winter, both the Mets and Yankees dangled mega-contracts in front of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but neither club was considered the favorite to land him.

The situation is different this year, particularly when it comes to Soto -- the most prominent free agent on the market by a significant margin. By all accounts, Soto enjoys playing in New York, but unlike Judge, he has no deep roots in the Bronx. His contract demands, which could blow past half a billion dollars in real-world money, are likely to scare off all but a handful of teams.

The New Yorkers are two of the few clubs that won’t blink at such numbers. Whether for Judge, Gerrit Cole, CC Sabathia or plenty of others, the Yankees have always shown an appetite for setting the market when the player matters to them. Meanwhile, the Mets under Steve Cohen have shattered payroll records and given no indications they intend to back off anytime soon.

“The Mets are obviously trying to get to their goal, which is winning a world championship,” Boras said, noting that Soto is -- surprise, surprise -- open to signing with them. “I think they’ve been very clear about pursuing this aggressively in the market.”

Whichever team doesn’t land Soto could show increased interest in Alonso, whose deep Mets ties didn’t prevent him from reaching free agency in the first place. The Mets will almost certainly bid competitively for Alonso one way or the other. For the Yankees, he’d be an awfully nice consolation prize. For both clubs, maybe a top pitcher like Corbin Burnes eventually comes into play as well.

As far as Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns is concerned, the idea of a bidding war between him and Cashman -- or more rightfully, between Cohen and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner -- is mostly just tabloid fodder. But the fact remains that to improve their club this winter, the Mets may need to do something they’ve never really done before: outbid their closest geographic rivals on a top-market free agent.

“From my perspective, I’m most focused on making the right decisions for the Mets regardless of what any of our other 29 teams are doing, including the team that happens to be across the town,” Stearns said. “I think we have to make the right decisions to us to put ourselves in the best chance to compete continuously, and that’s what I’m going to be focused on.”