DALLAS — Now what?
The Yankees learned Sunday night that their last and best offer — $760 million for 16 years — was not good enough to bring Juan Soto back to The Bronx.
A player most often compared with Ted Williams, presuming a declined or nullified opt-out, will spend his next 15 seasons in Queens.
Juan Soto agreed to a deal with the Mets in free agency on Sunday. Robert Sabo for NY Post
The Yankees have one fewer generational superstar and have many, many questions on their hands, such as:
Will they now repurpose that $760 million for other players in 2025?
There is plenty of precedent, most recently with the Yankees spreading $458 million around to Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Masahiro Tanaka after losing Robinson Cano following the 2013 season.
They will act similarly and hope several good to very good players can compensate for the loss of one all-timer.
Hal Steinbrenner will need to make different moves in free agency after Juan Soto signed with the Mets. Gabriella Bass
Still, it is unlikely that Hal Steinbrenner — who authorized his first $300 million-plus payroll last season — greenlights a $760 million winter after repeatedly stating it is not sustainable for Yankees ownership to continue at such a level. It is fair to believe such an outlay could be bestowed only on a 26-year-old Soto.
The Mets outbid the Yankees and set a new financial standard in the sport. Are the Mets the new Yankees and the Yankees the new Mets?
Yes and no.
The only team that spent more money than the Yankees last season was the Mets.
The Yankees offered Soto $47.5 million for 16 seasons, a proposal that would have made history if not for Steve Cohen.
Follow The Post’s coverage of Juan Soto’s historic megadeal with the Mets:
Yes, the Mets are the new financial behemoths in the sport.
No, the Yankees are not cheap.
How should Yankees fans feel about Soto?
There will be some who understand that a free agent went to the highest bidder, which is customary.
There will be more — many more — who saw that the Yankees made an offer in the same stratosphere and were turned down.
Juan Soto greets Yankees fans before an April 8 game. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
From Day 1 as a Yankee, Soto was a darling in The Bronx who could do no wrong (and did little wrong).
The next time he appears at his former home — May 16, 2025 — the guess here is he will be treated as a traitor.
Could this be a blessing in disguise?
Sure. Enormous contracts go south frequently.
Soto is a supremely gifted hitter who is not a gifted fielder or runner and will eventually be a designated hitter.
A contract can become an albatross with one or two injuries.
How are the final six seasons of Mike Trout’s megadeal looking?
The Yankees’ 2025 hopes look gloomier, but savvy moves that divvy up the hundreds of millions of dollars still would make them a World Series threat.
After such a gut punch, they do not have time to keel over for long.