Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says Mets are just one of many after Juan Soto

SAN ANTONIO – How afraid are the Yankees of Mets owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets when it comes to his club’s interest in free agent Juan Soto?

No more than any other club seriously involved in the All-Star outfielder sweepstakes – and there will be more than just the Yankees and Mets making a pitch to the cream of this crop of free agents winter – Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday.

“It’s hard to say,” Cashman said of the “threat” he believed the Mets posed. “They want to win, they are in a big market with us, they have tasted success this year and they want to move the needle even further. And the best way to do that is to import quality players to what you already have. And that’s what us, them and anyone interested in winning and wanting to be the last team, that’s what it’s all about, finding great players and adding (them) to your mix.

Cashman mostly offered word salad when asked specifically about the possible involvement of Cohen — the richest owner in Major League Baseball with a net worth of $21.3 billion, according to Forbes — who in his short time owned the team he grew up rooting for and has shown that he is not afraid to spend.

And spend a lot.

“That’s just the nature of the beast. And big-market owners aren’t the only ones signing players to big deals,” Cashman said when asked by Cohen. “You’ve seen the San Diego Padres, they’ve imported a lot of big players with big contracts for which they’ve outpaced other interesting teams. So it comes in different forms in different cities and at different times. So the market is strong year in and year out from all different aspects of the baseball universe. We do our best to compete with anyone year in and year out.”

Soto, already a four-time All-Star who turned just 26 on Oct. 25, is represented by Scott Boras, the agent for many of the sport’s biggest stars, his stable including Gerrit Cole, Bryce Harper and Pete Alonso (the latter is also part of a large free agent class this winter).

Cashman said the revival of Soto, whom the Yankees traded for in a blockbuster deal with the Padres last winter, was discussed on a cursory level with managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and Boras during the season.

But everyone involved knew that Soto, who is expected to land a package in the $500 million to $600 million range, perhaps surpassing that latter figure, would test the free agent market like virtually every star player Boras represents.

It’s not yet clear — and Cashman said he hasn’t yet discussed the budget with Steinbrenner — how high the owner is willing to go to keep Soto.

“It’s going to be tough to sign him no matter who you are because he’s a generational talent,” Cashman said.

Soto similarly answered all questions about his upcoming free agency all year long, and those answers boiled down to this: We’ll see what happens.

Which the outfielder repeated several times after the Yankees’ season ended with a Game 5 loss to the Dodgers in the World Series.

“I feel like every team has the same opportunity going into free agency,” Soto said. “I don’t want to say that anyone has any advantage because at the end of the day we’re going to look at what they have and how much they want me.”

The Yankees have several areas that need addressing this season, including the infield, the bullpen and, depending on what happens with Soto, the outfield. Cashman also didn’t rule out pursuing starting pitching, even though the Yankees have six starters.

But the GM acknowledged that Soto is a priority and some of that could be in a holding pattern.

“If you’re interested in a player, you have to give him a fair amount of time so he can process his decision that he’s earned to get there (free agency),” Cashman said. “These great players are worth the wait to some extent. But I also understand that you don’t want to put yourself in a bad position where you wait so long and all other alternatives fall off the board, and now you can’t do anything. You can’t be there either. We will have to do our best for it.”