New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto wants to set the record straight about his free agency.

After spending 2024 across town with the New York Yankees, Soto could have returned to the Bronx, signing a lucrative deal that would have lasted the rest of his career. When he settled on the Mets instead for a whopping $765 million, it begged the question: Was it just about the money?

Rumors began flying, including one that Soto had a run-in with Yankee Stadium security over allowing his family access to the clubhouse. Though the story gained plenty of steam, Soto insists it is not true.

“Nothing happened,” he told Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. “All this news that came out that security … they bring my family around, that they don’t let them be, and all that kind of s—. That’s not true. The security in the Yankees, those guys were 1A with me and my family.”

There was also a rumor that the Yankees refused to give Soto access to a personal suite, while the Mets offered him one at Citi Field for all home games. That may be a misleading representation of what happened. Soto said he did not care that it was the Yankees' club policy not to offer suites to individual players.

“The Yankees were No. 1,” he said. “From Day One.”

How the Mets overtook the Yankees in pursuit of Juan Soto

New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (22) returns from the field during the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Clover Park.
Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
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If security wasn't an issue and Soto didn't care about the suite, then what happened?

It turns out it was less about what the Yankees did or didn't do and more about Steve Cohen and the Mets going above and beyond.

“I mean, the effort that he puts in,” Soto said of Cohen. “He put a lot of things out there. They put my family into it. My family, and the way they take care of everything. They have to be taken care of.”

Outfielder Jesse Winker, whom the Mets acquired via trade last summer, echoed Soto's sentiment.

“Getting traded anywhere is hard, right?” he said. “In New York? In a playoff push? They made it so easy. It’s so much easier to come to the field knowing your family is safe and will be taken care of and you can just go out and play. It was like the smoothest transition ever. There are other places I’ve been that do a really good job as well, but here it’s just different.”

Soto will make his Mets regular season debut on Thursday in Houston against the Astros.