KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Juan Soto was at the heart of the Yankees' 3-2 victory on Wednesday night, which gives them a 2-1 lead over the Royals in a best-of-five division series.

Nobody is better at drawing walks, and the first of his two in Game 3 led to the game's first run. He started the Yankees' fourth inning and then scored from the start on Giancarlo Stanton's two-out double.

With the Yankees still up 1-0, Soto scored another run with a sacrifice fly in his next win.

Then, in the bottom of the fifth, with the Royals getting into the game with a double, the game was suddenly tied when Michael Massey made a drive into the gap in right-center that Soto thought he could overrun until he he lost the lights. He almost caught the ball with a last-second dive, but the ball went past him and resulted in a three-pointer that made the score 2-2.

After Stanton hit a home run in the eighth inning to break the tie and the Yankees secured the victory, Soto, as usual, relaxed after the game by sitting at his locker for about 15 minutes.

Seeing a group of reporters waiting, Soto finally stood up and talked about Stanton's big night and Jazz Chisholm, who was booed every time he stood up because he said the Royals were lucky to win Game 2 on Monday night. He discussed Stanton's first stolen base since 2020 and predicted that Aaron Judge, who is 1-for-11 in the series, will have a breakout any day. He also touched on Thursday night's Game 4, a potential pivotal game for the Yankees, who will have ace Gerrit Cole on the field.

After all that, when Soto was alone again at his locker stand, NJ Advance Media headed out again to address the Blue Jays.

According to a former teammate of Soto's, a friend who has the same agent, he could get an “astronomical offer” from the Blue Jays in the offseason, when he is the most coveted on the free-agent market.

Soto listened to what NJ Advance Media reported and then responded calmly.

“I don’t know anything about that,” Soto said. “You can’t talk to me now. Let’s see what happens in the offseason.”

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Restore the glory

Next winter, the Yankees will try to re-sign Soto. That's for sure.

But will they outbid Steve Cohen and the Mets?

Will they match or surpass the Blue Jays by making an “astronomical offer” in the region of 15 years and $600 million?

The final number could be at least $600 million because Soto is so good and has the toughest contract negotiator on his side, agent Scott Boras.

However, this is no longer a problem for Soto. He has said all year that his focus is on the Yankees.

Soto said he was so disciplined about putting free agency out of his mind during the season that he swears he never wondered what would happen in the winter, even on days off.

“No, I always tell my agent,” Soto said in a pregame interview on Wednesday. “Even at home, we never talk about it.

“Enjoy the moment, enjoy where we are and we’ll see what happens.”

Not thinking about your future will be worth it. Just as Aaron Judge hit 62 home runs in 2022, Soto increased his value in his final season before free agency. In 157 regular season games, he hit .288 with a career-high 41 home runs, 109 RBI, 129 walks and an OPS of .989. So far in the playoffs he is 3-of-10 with one RBI and three walks.

“At the end of the day I just try to focus on the game,” he said. “I love this game and have been playing it since I was a child. I'm here more about the game…trying to help the team.

“All the free agent talks and everything, I’ll just leave that to my agent. Leave it to him and I'll just come every day to play baseball and enjoy the game I love. That makes it really easy for me. I just play baseball. That’s all I do.”

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Randy Miller can be reached at [email protected].