NEW YORK -- With his contract situation now settled through 2025, Aaron Boone’s first order of business involves a plane ticket. The Yankees manager plans to jet to California next week to participate in a high-stakes meeting with Juan Soto, agent Scott Boras and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner.

The Yankees are strongly interested in retaining the 26-year-old Soto, who helped lead the team to the World Series after being acquired from the Padres in December. Soto figures to field significant nine-figure offers in free agency, including from the Mets, who also have a California meeting planned with Soto and Boras.

“As I’ve said all year, what Juan did for us between the lines was pretty special, and [he] put together a remarkable season,” Boone said Monday during a Zoom conference call. “But equally, I was just impressed with the person. Really getting to know him and getting to manage him was a pleasure.

“I certainly would love to have him back, obviously. I want him in pinstripes moving forward. But you also know there’s going to be a lot of people competing for that, and who knows where it ends up?”

What kind of full-court press might Soto require? He has already experienced what a full 162-game season in New York would look, sound and feel like, including overtures from fans in the right-field seats waving blank checks in his direction. The trip to the World Series by the organization also remains fresh in the minds of all involved.

Boone said he will likely point to his relationship with Soto, including the ability to have “honest conversations with him.”

“Hopefully it’ll cement the point of how valuable and how much we think of him, not only as a player, but as a person,” Boone said. “I got to live that with him this year. That would be my sales pitch; [discuss] how much we want him, but let the meeting go where it goes.”

‘Sting’ still present
As Boone spoke, he sat behind his desk in the bowels of Yankee Stadium, his fielders’ glove with “AB 17” stitched on the side visible beyond his left shoulder. Twelve days prior, Boone had worn that glove to play catch ahead of a World Series game; now, he was once again dissecting a finish that came up three wins short.

“As I said to our guys, this stays with you probably forever -- the sting of not finishing it off,” Boone said. “I’ve talked about the ’19 playoffs and not getting through that. These are things that sting. That wound is still there, when you get close to the top of the mountain.”

Boone said that he was “a little bit” bothered by some of the Dodgers’ criticism in the last week-plus, specifically reliever Joe Kelly, who said that the Yankees fell short of other contenders in terms of their baserunning and defensive discipline.

“The bottom line is, we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Boone said.

‘Martian’ landing?
Boone said that he expects top prospect Jasson Domínguez to “be a big part of what we do this coming year,” though it hasn’t been decided if Domínguez will see most of his time in left or center field.

Much of that hinges upon Soto’s potential return, a possible move back to right field for Aaron Judge, as well as other additions the Yankees could make.

“I continue to be super excited about Jasson’s future,” Boone said. “I’m in that camp of people that think he’s going to be a great big league player. I love his makeup. I love his talent.”

Boone also spoke highly of infield prospect Caleb Durbin, who is putting forth an excellent performance in the Arizona Fall League.

“I think he’s a stud, frankly,” Boone said. “Great bat-to-ball [skill], elite ability on the bases as a basestealer and a good defender in the middle of the diamond at second base.”

Beyond 2025
The Yankees picked up Boone’s contractual option for 2025, believed to be valued close to $3 million, on Friday. He said that there have been no discussions to date about an extension beyond that deal.

“There’s a lot of loose ends to tie up organizationally, so we’ll see what unfolds,” Boone said. “But either way, I’m prepared and ready to go, and excited for 2025.”

There will be at least one change to Boone’s coaching staff in 2025, and potentially two, he said. Boone said he was not prepared to discuss those moves publicly, saying that he believes the staff will be “largely intact” from '24.