Juan Soto reminds Ron Darling of Albert Pujols

NEW YORK — With all of baseball watching to see where free agent outfielder Juan Soto will sign, former Mets right-hander and current SNY broadcaster Ron Darling has been reminded of when another generational Dominican hitter hit free agency.

In the winter of 2011, Albert Pujols signed a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels, leaving the only team he had ever known for $254 million. At the time, it was the second-most money awarded in MLB history and one of only a few decade-long deals.

“Albert Pujols was, at that time, considered the greatest hitter in the sport,” Darling told the Daily News this week. “Well, I think that’s what you have here in Soto.”

Of course, there are obvious differences in the two situations. Pujols was a 31-year-old three-time MVP who had spent the entirety of his playing career to that point with the St. Louis Cardinals. Few players get better after the age of 31.

Soto is in the prime of his career at only 26 years old and he’s already played for three teams. It’s rare that a player as impactful as Soto gets traded even once, but Soto has been traded twice. Such is life in a league without a salary cap where the difference between the haves and have nots is hundreds of millions of dollars.

However, the Mets aren’t bound by the economic constraints that other teams have to contend with. Owner Steve Cohen is the richest in the game and president of baseball operations David Stearns has the luxury of being able to negotiate with just about any player he wants.

“Honestly, it’s amazing to me. You say to yourself, ‘Well, why is he with so many teams?’ Well, he’s with so many teams because the teams that had them, they can’t afford him,” Darling said. “He’s just such an outlier that the Washington Nationals have almost changed the arc of their team because of the three or four players that they got for one. So I just think that there’s a player that comes around every once in a while, Steve and David Stearns know that, and they’re going to do everything in their power to get him.”

If the Mets do get the right fielder, Darling thinks they should bring back Pete Alonso for protection in the lineup. The homegrown first baseman is a free agent for the first time and likely won’t be signed until Soto finds his new home. They’re both represented by Scott Boras.

The Mets could bat Francisco Lindor leadoff once again, then put Mark Vientos in the second spot, Brandon Nimmo in the third and Soto in the cleanup spot in front of Alonso. Add Starling Marte, Francisco Alvarez, Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor to the lineup and it starts to look pretty long.

Lineup length helped the Mets reach the NLCS last month, but a player like Soto could push them over the edge.

“If you’re going to acquire one, then I would love Pete to come back,” Darling said. “Then all of the sudden, you’ve got the Lindors, the Alonsos, the Sotos and you’re 5-6 deep with just greatness.”

Of course, one player alone can’t win a team a World Series. The Mets produced a lot of runs in the postseason but ran out of pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Should they have to move on to another bat, Darling is confident they’ll get the right one.

“There is no one in better position to pivot than David,” Darling said.

The process is expected to continue through next week and into the winter meetings, which run from Dec. 9-12 in Dallas, where Pujols and the Halos agreed to their historic pact 13 years ago.

It’s funny to remember that back in 2011, people balked at $254 million. Lindor’s own 10-year contract will pay him nearly $100 million more than that and Shohei Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers will eventually pay him a record $700 million after the deferrals kick in. Players like Ohtani and Aaron Judge are considered to be worth that type of money because of the revenue teams stand to gain from them. Soto is in the same category.

“Hats off to Otani and everyone out there, Judge included, but as far as commanding and at-bat and having great theater in an at-bat, there’s no one like Juan,” Darling said. “And you know that there only comes a guy like that every once in a while. There’s not going to be another guy like this for many, many moons, I would think.”