The floor for Juan Soto’s contract appears to be $600MM. Ken Rosenthal, Evan Drellich and Brendan Kuty of the Athletic report that every team that remains in the Soto bidding has made a formal offer at or above that number.
With multiple $600MM+ offers in hand, there’s not much chance of Soto pivoting to a short-term deal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last week that the four-time All-Star wasn’t interested in taking a shorter term to prioritize his annual earnings. Heyman suggested Soto was seeking a 15-year contract. It’s not clear whether that’ll be on the table, though tonight’s report from The Athletic indicates he’s likely to sign for at least 12 years. That’ll presumably come with one or more opt-out chances as well.
Agent Scott Boras did not comment publicly about contract terms. However, he told reporters this evening that Soto has begun to narrow the field. “We’ve had meetings with a number of franchises. He’s begun the process of eliminating teams and doing things. Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see, but I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future,” Boras said at today’s introductory presser for another of his clients, Blake Snell.
While Soto reportedly fielded interest from 11 teams at the beginning of the offseason, it seems a clear five suitors have emerged: the Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Dodgers. Most speculation throughout the industry is that he’ll land with one of the New York franchises. To that end, Rosenthal, Drellich and Kuty write that many people around the game expect that Mets’ owner Steve Cohen will refuse to be outbid.
That said, there’s been chatter in recent weeks that the Red Sox are making a serious push. Meanwhile, SNY’s Andy Martino and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (X link) each suggested last night that the Blue Jays might come in with the highest bid at the end of the day. Reporting has generally cast the Dodgers as something of a long shot, but it’s impossible to count them out on any top-tier free agent.
In any case, Soto seems mere days away from establishing a record for the top net present value in MLB history. That’s currently held by Shohei Ohtani, whose deal is valued by MLB just shy of $461MM after accounting for deferrals. There was never much doubt that Soto would beat that, though it was fair to wonder whether the bidding would stop somewhere between $500MM and $600MM.
At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Soto would receive exactly $600MM over 13 years — a number that looks as if it’ll be light. While it doesn’t seem that decision will come within the next 24 hours, there’s a widespread belief that Soto will make his call by the end of next week’s Winter Meetings.
That’s ridiculous money I think
NY teams bidding against each other it’s going to be a ridiculous.
LAD?
Not according to the market, obviously.
And as Albert Pujols, Eric Hosmer, and Freddie Freeman can tell you, the market is never wrong!
Market was right on all 3 of those contracts.
Freddie Freeman World Series MVP?
Yep. Teams took a beating from the health crisis. About to lose their rsn $. Not that many contenders needed 1b. He refused to accept this and waited until March to sign. Forced the team who valued him the most to make a trade for his replacement. Teams were well aware of how good he was.
What? It definitely was not. 29 teams passed on Freddie freeman at a steal of a price. And many teams were bidding on Hosmer and Pujols for their final contracts that ended up albatrosses
Hard to argue with that. Maybe a dozen guys like Putin Musk could.
@thenorthstarofninja Yes, it is.
Soto’s bWAR since he began playing isn’t near that of the very best few players in the game over their best consecutive 7 year periods. He’s Goldschmidt, Arenado (with three 7-year stretches better than Soto’s 7-year career to date), Machado, Lindor, Marcus Semien, Freeman, Chapman, or Votto, not Betts, Judge, Ohtani, or Trout—and no one ever thought the first eight should smash the existing salary record or should be paid as it turned out Ohtani was paid.
Matt Chapman during 2018-2024 put up 35.2 bWAR to Soto’s 36.4 bWAR. Matt Chapman.
Or take Soto’s first 3 season’s, pro rated to 3 full seasons—he still gets pipped on bWAR by Andres Giminez’s first 3 full seasons. There’s going to be a huge financial cost to the GM who goes gaga over those two skills and ignores the whole player
Soto’s a great two-tool player, obviously, but he also old players’ skills, is slow, is not a good baserunner, is a poor fielder at one of the easier positions to fill, and is headed for the DH slot. That strictly limits what his best years will look like, attested to by how 2/3 of his 6 full seasons to date were limited to 5 WAR. Soto’s much more Miguel Cabrera (just not quite as good), himself a three-tool player who was done after his age 33 season than he is one of the game’s authentic handful of half a dozen superstars.
Bobby Witt Jr in his three full seasons has already beaten Soto in his first six full seasons for best year by WAR, 9.4 to 7.9. So has Gunnar Henderson, 9.1 to 7.9 in just two full seasons, and in those two seasons GH has already piled up 42% of the value Soto created over his career to date, 2018-2024. That only shows that as great a two-tool player Soto is, his value is capped by having only those tools and being below average everywhere else.
Soto’s a terrific player who should be paid like the first eight players in graf one, not like the best player in baseball—and it’s not particularly close.
Just for fun, non-HOFers (though a few will get in):
– Soto, 36.4 bWAR 2018-2024
= Chase Utley 49.3, 2005-2011
= Bobby Grich 39.9, 1972-1978
= Kenny Lofton 41.9, 1992-1998
= Keith Hernandez 39.9 WAR 1979-1985
= Jim Edmonds, 37.7 2000-2006
= John Olerud 33.7, 1996-2002
= Abreu 41.6, 1998-2004
= Carlos Correa 34.6, 2016-2022
= Ian Kinsler 34.1, 2009-2015
= Bernie Williams 37.0 1995-2001
= Will Clark 32.9 1988-1994
= Palmeiro 35.5 1993-1999
= Matt Holiday 33.5, 2007-2013
= Carlos Beltran 40.5, 2002-2008
= Billy Willians 36.5, 1962-1968
= Adrian Gonzalez 34.6, 2009-2015
= Brett Butler 32.7, 1986-1992
= Andruw 42.2, 1998-2004; 41.5, 1999-2005; 2000-2006, 40.0
= Jose Altuve 35.1, 2013-2019
= Dale Murphy, 37.2, 1982-1988
Why are you using Soto’s 7 years to compare other players best 7 year period? Are you suggesting Soto’s next whatever many years are going to be worst than his first few in the majors (his teenage years)?
Because it’s the only 7 years of data to choose from?
Why did you immediately assume that he was suggesting something other than his 7 years are what they are?
Why can’t something just be what it is and not have to be something else?
None of those other players you compared him to signed at his age.
It seems disingenuous to use the best years of players who’re at the end of their careers to compare them to soto. He could conceivably have seasons just as great as the other players you’ve mentioned when he enters his prime years. Does your argument still hold up when you compare just their first 7 seasons to each other?
@mach It might be disingenuous, but it paints the narrative he’s going for. He also fails to mention one of those years was call up year and hes giving 0 credit for tine in Minors.
I want to see comps to players first 7 years especially those starting at age 19. The back end of those contract might have some bad years. But most mega contracts start around age 30.
It’s ridiculous to provide all that information yet fail to mention his age. Let alone his age relative to the average player hitting free agency.
Yes Soto has some flaws. The skille he’s best at though he’s elite and very well might not have hit his prime.
Soto should age very well considering his skillset is not dependent on athleticism. To your point, he is already slow, so it’s not like he stands to lose anything there. His annual WAR is probably capped due to these limitations, but he is a fairly safe bet to be an elite hitter for the next decade or so. At least, as safe a bet as you can find. I should also note that your sample includes his age 19 season when he posted 3.0 WAR in under 500 PA’s!
In big moments where you need a big hit he’ll still likely come through with a solid walk to leave it to whoever hits behind him
Or hit a three run HR in Cleveland to clinch the ALCS. Did you forget about that one?
His strike zone recognition and plate discipline are once in a lifetime. Like the only players you can put above him in that skill are Barry Bonds and Ted Williams. He’s not just gonna lose that when he gets older.
So you wouldn’t use him for your golden at bat?
434 9288
These are Tony Gwynn’s career strikeouts and career plate appearances.
Look up his annual SOs if you want phenomenal eye opening stats on plate discipline.
No qualms with Ted. Yet, Ted was one of Tony’s biggest fans and regularly commented on his abilities.
Barry Bonds – pitchers weren’t throwing him strikes so it wasn’t that difficult of a process for him. For a few years he was unintentionally intentionally walked more times than he was actually pitched. The juice or cream had that effect.
Your comment will not age well.
Wow, that’s the fact Jack what an eye opener! You changed my mind on Soto! The winner of this game is the loser!
Comparing a player from today vs those of the past is unnecessary. Compare Soto to all those from 2018-2024. His bat ranks 2nd to Judge. His net War, factoring in a -55 dWar, STILL had him ranked 2nd to only Judge. He is top 10 in almost all the cumulative stats. He’s got the highest walk rate, the highest OBP, top 5 in wOBA and +wRC and arguably, could have his best years with the bat ahead of him. He’s only going to be 26 next year!!!! He just had a career high in HR. He could honestly be a 50 hr guy, resourcing in Yankee stadium and if they could build out the lineup and put runners in gummy of him he could be a 130-150 rbi guy. If the annual is $50 mil then consider this. Judge is 32 earning $40 mil pet. Soto is going to be 6 years younger during 2025. Where will salaries be by the time he’s 32? His salary might be surpassed by that time, yet he would still be near his prime.
Or at least he claims he’ll only be 26. He may really already be older than that. He certainly wouldn’t be the first player to lie about his age.
BINGO.
Lots of apples to oranges here. First, comparing Soto’s first 7 to other players best 7. Second, comparing Soto’s age 19 thru 21 seasons (when other players were in MiLs) to other players’ prime years.
Not relevant……
Beware of pinheads with hundreds of millions of dollars. I predict he’ll be a bust in the long run.
He didn’t even mention Soto’s age once . Nor did he credit him at all for time in Minors in age 19 season. He just used stats that best backed his narrative, regardless if they were skewed.
It’s almost like the teams don’t care too much about WAR…
Uh, yeah they do. And Soto’s WAR is incredibly high
Soto has more WAR than Willie Mays did entering their age 26 seasons. See what happens when you cherry pick stats and use them without context?
You’re missing a huge piece of context in that Soto is just now entering his prime
I like WAR as ways of comparing players that are harder to compare but the bat and on base percentage are just so hard to come by in todays game that it makes WAR tough in this case. For instance Daulton Varsho is far ahead of Vlad. Jr. in WAR per AB, it’s not even that close would you contemplate giving him a bigger free agent contract than Vlad?
WAR. Huh. What is it good for?
Soto is way younger at free agency than those guys.
@jack – he’s also just 26 and hasn’t hit his prime yet.
He can hit with the best of them, was a GG finalist for “one of the easiest positions” and lifts others batting around him. I don’t value him as a $600M player, but if anyone not named Ohtani was going to get it, it’s probably him due to his age and ceiling potential.
Apparently, these owners don’t take as much stock in bwar as random fans do.
Bravo, Sir! Great breakdown/post!
Wow
There’s a saying in chess: “long analysis, wrong analysis.”
It means overthinking to a huge extent based on faulty premises.
Clubs are salivating over his future performance as he enters his prime, based on extrapolating from his achievements so far. They are not simply seeking replications of how he has done to date.
Jack, in integrated baseball, in other words 1947 to today, 8 players have had the same or higher WAR through their age 25 season as Soto. EIGHT.
One you have to throw out because likely he was on steroids prior to his age 25 season, Arod.
So 7 were as good or better. than Soto so far
Of those 7 only Trout, Pujols, and Andruw Jones are not in the HOF. Trout and Pujols will be in as soon as they can be voted on.
The others are Mantle. Matthews, Griffey, Aaron.
That is insanely good company to be in.
Trying to compare the 7 best seasons of a players career to the FIRST 7 of a players career is disingenuous. Its comparing apples to grapefruit.
That YOU don’t like him doesn’t change the facts. Reality is that there are few EVER that have been as good at his age to start their careers.
@JackStrawb; wow. Massive content; entertaining. Thank you.
Orioles fan that followed team when Raffy P was in his prime. He got exposed then linked to steroid use. Would his bWar have suffered if off the juice?
Depends….if 200M$ is deferred then it’s a lot less than it sounds. If none of it is, then that’s definitely a lot of money. But we all expected him to sign for “ridiculous money”….it’s clear whomever signing him is making more off of him than they are paying him.
@mrkinsm Serious question: How is it clear that “whomever signing him is making more off of him than they are paying him,” particularly when we don’t know how he’ll perform, what inflation will actually look like, what the team around him will look like, and so on.
Teams presumably are making what they believe to be sensible gambles, excepting Stearns for the Mets. Not a chance he’d sign Soto for this money without Cohen deciding to play GM one… more… time….
These 30 monopoly owners are not “gambling”, they are making money hand over fist.
Almost agree, but all the owners are in on it when the price is this high!
@Jack You ever consider these owners and GMs might know a bit more then any of us? Do you thing these owners amassed billions by being fools? Fisher aside obviously, but he inherited his fortune.
mrkinsm: Soto wants the highest AAV ever so I doubt any money will be deferred.
It’s not enough for top player who per war is worth $70 million a year plus more in ticket sales and advertising. He should get $100 million a year for 12 years.
Soto only had around $3M in endorsements last year. Ohtani had over $100M personally and brought in around $150 to the Dodgers. Soto is an amazing player and future HOFer but not in the same league from an economic impact standpoint.
You’re not wrong but people say that every offseason and then suddenly Stanton’s $325M is pocket change. If you want the game’s top players, you have to pay.
Dont forget suites on the road, some private plane flights for free, Opt out (any team that does any opt out is insane) If he gets MVP, batting title etc there needs to be bonus money for that. Did I miss anything?
He’s a Dodger. Why bother?
Not if I’m pulling it down. I’m worth every penny.
I’m leaning more towards the Mets. If Cohen wants someone, no one will spend more than him.
I think Soto is only the seventh or eight best player in the league right now. He is average on defense, limited as to positions, slow on speed, and an eventual DH.
The main selling point for Soto is that he is a few years younger than most high level free agents. That is true. Soto may actually improve as hitter over the next couple years. But the real question is how much contracts have gone up compared to a few years back. Clearly, Soto is not worth both Harper and Tatis, yet he hopes to get paid as much as both combined. The market may bear it and I see nothing wrong with him seeking every penny. But I think the amount of his contract will be too high if you compare the opportunity cost of spending that money on multiple contracts for slightly older players staggered over multiple junctures in time. Even if the Mets and Dodgers don’t sign Soto, their recent expenditures have been expanded the market opportunity for Soto.
But the salient factor driving his market is that he is far and away the best player available in free agency.
@MLB His age is definitely a huge selling point. As is where he provides value he’s elite. His skllset generally ages a bit better then others.
Not saying I’d want Tigers to invest that type of $ with Soto for what is likely going to b a very long time. For a big market club, Soto is a piece that should provide value to a lineup for a long time to come.
Considering in 15 years he’ll be 46.
Not worth it considering his poor defense.
And bad baserunning.
@jt3 He led the AL in Runs last season. Getting baserunners across homeplate is primary objective, right?? Yet you want to call the player who did so the most bad at making it around the bases and scoring….
He led the league in Outfield Assista, putouts and fielding percentage.
It’s worth if for some teams. But probably going to a team that will have good attendance and tv deal with or without him.
Players like Soto dont drive attendance. Nope. Maybe the first season a little. Certainly not to cover 40-50 mm a yr. That math never adds up. The novelty can wear off as well.
Even if it was just the 1st year that’s a lot of $. Thousands of season tickets times 81 games times 5 10 15 years because once you buy season tickets it takes something drastic to get you to drop them. Few bobblehead head nights a year. T-shirt night. Milestones. Corporate sponsorships. More advertising revenue. And just plain winning. He helps you win. Winning means more attendance. Not to mention more playoff games. He’s more valuable to a team like the Giants than the Dodgers but because they already have the attendance and tv deal if the Dodgers want him they don’t have a chance.
@rob
There are 2 mil Dominicans in the US. 800,000 live within 7 miles of Yankee Stadium. Dominguez is also Dominican. Judge is 32. It would not be hard to imagine that the “Dominican Connection” might be the face of the franchise in 5 years.
How many of these 800k Dominicans who aren’t currently season ticket holders will be just because of Soto? Are the other 1.2m going to move to NY? Small potatoes. I believe there have been other Dominican stars so there should be a good understanding of this.
KnicksFan: Which means they also live within 15 miles of Citi Field.
@yourdream
There are 1.2 mil Japanese Americans. 29% live in California (583,000). They’re are far more Dominicans living in driving distance to YS than they’re are Japanese Americans in close proximity to DS. How many of those Japanese Americans were Dodgers fans already? Now obviously Japan itself is a much larger population than in the DR and obviously they have a much stronger and robust economy that travels well with a much larger disposable income than the DR population. In no way shape or form am I comparing the two. But to say there’s no economic advantage in signing Soto is false. And yes, the Mets would obviously benefit by tapping into that community too which to some extent they already do because of Lindor, but such is the strike brand and which is literally in their backyard already? But that’s not something that would matter to Soto unless the money is similar perhaps.
I never said there was no advantage. Just nothing drastic. Like you said Ohtani much bigger star. Japanese more $. Travel well. More money in Japan. Yankees already at max attendance.
Mets though.. They can really benefit from Soto. Not so much the Dominican thing but more so than Yankees but having another star and Cohen throwing out $ again and biggest yet and winning. They have a lot of seats to fill and being the #2 team the marketing is even more valuable.
I’m french. What’s the best team for that? (Quebec has no team.)
@Blue Baron I hate hearing the argument that the Dominicans will follow Soto wherever he goes. Not saying you’re claiming this, but it seems thats what you’re getting at without directly saying it. Do people actually believe Dominicans dont have any loyalty to their MLB team and just follow Soto around cuz hes dominican??? Maybe a few handful – but its such common knowledge to anyone that lives in NY and frequents both stadiums that Soto would be much more loved in the Bronx due to the larger amount of Dominican Yankees fans. If Soto was say jewish, Mets would be the better fit as theres more jewish NYC mets fans than yankees fans. Its just most NYC Dominicans are Yankees fans, and assuming that Dominicans dont care what jersey hes wearing is kind of ignorant. The fan bases are completely different, the vibe is completely different, the culture is completely different. But hey, theres a bunch of dominicans in the area who cares about what they actually feel!!!
Players with the best OF arms never lead in assists. Guys with great arms don’t get challenged. Not to diminish what Soto did, clearly he rose to the occasion, but the assist leaders get more opportunities because guys feel they can run on a guy with a less than great arm.
Fielding percentage is not a good stat. All it takes into account is the balls that the fielder can get A guy can have extremely limited range, and lead the league in fielding %.
And I assume leading the league in putouts is OF putouts, No way he had more than most 1B. LF is always going to have more putouts than the other OF positions.
I’m not saying Soto isn’t worth what he’ll get paid. He is. But arguing that he isn’t limited defensively is the wrong argument.. He’ll be paid for what he does with the bat, not the glove, And for good reason.
I agree with you saying that fielding percentage is limited but he got to the most balls by leading the league in put outs. Combine the two and it tells you something. I watched him play and he definitely had more range and a way better arm then people on here state.
The stats that do measure range don’t agree. He has negative numbers in both DRS and OAA. He’s not terrible, but again, he’ll be paid to hit, and his average to below average glove won’t be an issue. His value, despite the so-so fielding, is huge.
I’m not saying he’s being paid to field. Im just saying the constant people saying he’s a horrible fielder is ridiculous.
Duran led the league with 12 assists. Soto had 10.
Soto was 15th in PO at 302, tied with Taylor Ward.
Soto was tied with Daulton Varsho at 13th in FP at .964
Soto’s arm was 12th in MLB, in the 90th percentile.
His DRS was exactly league average at 0
His FRV was -1. That is StatCast’s new defensive metric, Fielding Run Value, that measures more than just range.
I get it. But what is Ohtani worth considering he was a full-time DH last year?
I’ll buy into Soto for 13/$650.$50 per annual sets at least one of the records Boras is shooting to reach.
Ohtani brought more money to that team than they paid him. Comparing apples to asparagus Soto doesn’t print money
If you think a Dominican baseball star, who may end up being the among the very best, doesn’t bring money into a team located in the Bronx, where the largest population of Dominicans in the US are located within a 7 mile radius, then you don’t know anything about NY. He could also end up being a great mentor to Dominguez, a fellow Dominican who’s only a could of years younger than Soto.
David Samson who knows the financial end of things claims that even Phtani based on his salary does not cover that cost. Now you might say if they win 3 World Series in a row with him that adds to something that cant be assesed. You have to realize the Dodgers sell huge amount of tix before he got there as well. Its not like they draw fies like 0k a yr or less then sell 50K every game plus luxury box month etc.
The Dominican Connection can be what’s going on in Boston as well. Soto is being recruited heavily by their two former Dominican stars Ortiz and Pedro.
Yes, add another decimal for his “possible” tutoring skills!
And last year he won MVP coming back from TJ. Are you he’s counted on being an elite pitcher for most of his contract too?
They expect Ohtani to pitch. Average guys right now get 17mm to pitch.
You obviously don’t know baseball.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t watch a ton of regular season Yankees games. I’m sure he’s made some great plays. But stats like OOA and UZR don’t particularly like him. Also I saw him take some pretty terrible routes in the WS. So for me it’s more of the eyeball test which is not exactly scientific. But at least I have the ability to put together a rational idea backed with reason instead of just barfing out an insult as my first reaction to an opinion I don’t agree with like an ignorant child.
His defense isn’t even that bad. He’s below average, but you all act like he’s Miguel Cabrera at 3B level bad…
Maybe in his later years, he can be the golden at bat specialist. Speaking of, will there be special golden at-bat ratings, like a GAB+?
What a great photo to choose for right over this headline
The Monopoly Go ad mid article is amusing 🙂
Why would he go to Jays though? Their farm system is so depleted. Not sure why Jays are doing it. It will be a waste of money with no great young core of a team, and that’s with Guerrero and Beckett.
*Bichette
both Bichette and Guerrero are FA in 1 year too, makes no sense, if only Atkins and Shapiro were released 3 years ago…
No team has a clear 15 year future. If Soto says yes, Toronto most likely becomes a desirable local for others.
Jays would have to pay him significantly more $. That’s why he would go to them. Not sure Bo Vlad are someone you want to extend.
Depends
You get Soto in Toronto and maybe Jays trade Vladi and Bichette for younger, high level minor guys to build the system back up faster. Plus if you dont extend Vladi or Bichette you will have more to spend also
So your suggestion is to sign Soto, then immediately trade their best players. Great business model
@junior
The idea they might not be able to retain Vlad or Bichette should make Soto less likely to sign with the Jays. He was just in WS. I doubt he wants to be the best player on a rebuilding team. It’s a longshot that they would acquire a prospect on the level of a Vlad who’s 1 year from FA.
They’re not trading Vlad if they sign Soto, they’d extend him, I can see them trading Bo if the offer is good enough or letting go in free agency,
$$$$$
He already won a World Series with the nationals
Not like that’s something weighing on his mind.
If you were watching the World Series, you would’ve seen Soto wearing his helmet in the dugout and holding back tears after Buehler struck out Verdugo to end it. So, I think he truly cares about winning another one….
That’s a really heart felt touching story. Really pulls at the heart strings.
Anyways. He already won one. He doesn’t need to worry about winning one like other guys do to be in consideration of “all time greats” since many people knock certain players due to them never winning a World Series. Thats not something Soto has to worry about.
Well if you watched the World Series, you’d know that it is something he DOES worry about. He even says it in all the interviews. You’re just projecting yourself on him….
Sir. I walked away with the North Dakota State alpha sigma sigma jaeger bomb trophy as a true freshman at North Dakota A&M
World Series pales in comparison to that 128 single elimination 3 day tournament. Soto wishes he was half the man I was.
Does Soto get “how are you even alive” comments to this very day? I don’t think so.
Yes you do. It’s not quite like the Jordan, LBJ, Kobe, etc debate but more is better. He’s 25 the idea that he had nothing else to prove isn’t the way a competitive athlete thinks. Arod was a better player than Jeter but Jeter had 5 rings to Arods 1.Arod had the numbers and get more $. You don’t think Arod to this day, isn’t envious of Jeter’s success?
Baseball is viewed different than nba and nfl
Baseball it’s understood that players performance is individual. Maybe because the way the game is designed where it’s 1 pitcher vs 1 hitter at a time.
NFL and NBA you get people that judge individuals on team success.
NFL QBs are judged more on superbowl wins than aav or QBR.
NBA players are judged on rings not win shares or whatever individual metric they use.
Players in the mlb are judged more on WAR than World Series rings. When sotos hof career is done hardly anyone on this site is going to talk about his rings. It’ll be WAR when his time comes and where he ranks among the all time greats
@Harrison
Jeter retired with 74 War. Of the 30 or so guys ahead of him (from 1974 to present) my guess is that he’s likely the most well known and recognized. Why? 5 rings, lots of memories in the biggest media market. I promise you that if Soto stays in NY and winsa could of rings he’ll likely be more popular and more remembered than Trout could ever imagine. The 3 most memorable players from 2018 to 2040 much be Judge, Ohtani and Soto.
ARod was a cheater, lest we forget.
Knicks
Bobby Witt, Gunnar Henderson, Elly De La Cruz and Paul Skenes say “hi”. I think there is a good chance that one of those four will be more memorable than Soto (the future DH) over the next twenty years. But Soto is a top ten player in the league and he is the best free agent available during this particular hot stove period. The question is could you do better getting three of four guys over the length of his contract. Like if the Dodgers get Snell and Teoscar and then replace both in six years with two more comparable guys. Baseball is a team game.
Please name me a player who says they don’t care about winning, in an interview. What’s that? They all say they care! How surprising!
2>1 Why wouldn’t he want more rings? that’s like saying he has$100 mil so why does he need to hold out for $650 mil as opposed to $450 mil.
Soto would play on the moon if the money was right. He would play in Miami which is baseball purgatory if they had some deep pocket owner and offered the most.
Bc their FO is desperate.
How much of it is deferred?
Well if he cares about winning a chip AND getting paid at the same time….
…then any of the 5 is a good bet.
He cares about getting paid he has his ring, I don’t see him deferring any.
Just replay the final out of Game 5 when FOX cameras cut to him in the dugout waiting for a potential at bat. Look at his expression and tell me he doesn’t care about winning any more rings….
Rings are a joke. Money talks not rings. Even teams like toe Dodgers or Yankees can go many yrs between rings. Boras clients are about cash. $$$$.
robw5555: Nothing wrong with that.
@robw
You thick felt Dominacan and Boras client, Robbie Cano geld the same way? He went for the most money and look what it did for his career going to a market that could afford him but not afford to build around him. He never sniffed the playoffs and couldn’t shoulder the weight of being “the guy”. In NY he at least could hide behind bigger stars and just focus on his game. Soto had to consider that. There’s an absolute benefit of playing in certain markets like NY, LA and even Boston. But Ohtani showed there’s a big difference in playing for the Dodgers vs the Angels and he should see that’s a difference between playing for the Yanks vs the Mets.
People say Cano was all about the money but he loves the game too . He wouldn’t still be down in the Mexican League sweating it out for peanuts if he didn’t.
Emotionally immature. Cry baby. Remove a decimal./s
He hired Boras! If that doesn’t tell you its all about the MONEY, nothing will.
Im a Jays fan but the Jays are never in and its always funny they are mentioned.
Toronto not the team to pay the luxury tax fees on top of the deal.
We’ve paid the tax before, There’s ery little money on the books in the near future, I’m pretty sure MLB’s second richest owner isn’t worried about a couple of million dollars in CBT amounts for a couple of years.
Rumor is the Savannah Bananas are in the lead.
Only team in baseball running a lottery to buy their tickets.
We have all family members in on that lottery!
Im keeping my fingers crossed Soto goes to one of Mets or Dodgers and gets him out of the AL. Any team that signs him to that deal has disaster written all over it
I never heard of a future hall of famer’s contract as being a disaster, thanks for the information.
Let me tell you about the Albert Pujols Free Agent contract, and the Miguel Cabrera extension.
So you want him out of the AL, but the deal is gonna be a disaster? Seems a little contradictory
Bluejays & redsox???
How the hell are they gonna outbid cohen
He can buy their entire franchises if he wanted to
Umm you do realize Rogers Communications who owns the blue jays is worth the same as steve cohen…and fsg who controls the red sox are not too far behind…they can all afford it and neither is scared of uncle steve lol
if they’re so rich why did boston let mookie go when they easily could have resigned him… since they’re so wealthy and can “afford it”???
and whats the largest contract bluejays ever gave someone? george springer? gimme a f’ing break. if soto is going to toronto then i’m gonna be the next president of the united states
johncoltrane: That you Donnie?
They offerd ohtani the exact same deal as the dodgers. ..and being able to afford it has never been a problem in boston or toronto..i will give a break since you asked….it will be ok..no need to get upset…need a cookie and some milk maybe?
Just because an ownership group is rich doesn’t mean they’re going to spend it, nor does it make them smart. The Red Sox’s strategy with Betts was incredibly flawed and idiotic. Doesn’t mean they didn’t have the resources to get it done.
They offered Mookie an extension. He refused they traded him. They were able to afford Devers and unfortunately Story. Price Sale. Used to give dr teens tens of millions. They can sign anyone they want.
mookie denied they ever offered him an extension
and even if they did the rumor was it was less than half of what soto will receive . largest contract in toronto history = 150mil to springer. ya’ll are delusional if you think juan soto the biggest FA bat in the history of the sport is going to canada for f sake
johncoltrane, It’s ridiculous to say the Sox could have “easily” re-signed Betts. No one commenting here knows Betts’ reasons for not re-signing. Maybe he didn’t like Boston’s chances of contending. Maybe he wanted to play in SoCal. Maybe he didn’t like the FO at the time, or the manager, or some of his teammates. Maybe he didn’t like Boston. Maybe he was determined to leave no matter what.
The Sox can easily afford Soto. They own Fenway outright. Plus they have more room under the cap. At the rate of the bidding, what might cost the Sox $50-60M a year will be $90-110M for the NY teams with the CBT penalties.
I think it will be the Met’s, but totally discounting the Jays and Sox, who have the money to land him, is foolish. Neither one would surprise me. It would be a bigger surprise to me if he re-signed with the Yanks.
Don’t even know you but I’ll take you as president over the ______ that we ended up with. Pretty please.
“mookie denied they ever offered him an extension”
That’s absolutely not true. In an interview with SI he said that the Sox offered an extension. Sources say it was for $300M, though the length is not known. He’s quoted as saying he turned it down because he felt his value was higher than the offer. The article also says “he didn’t enjoy playing in Boston” as part of the reason for turning down the extension.
@matrac
i’m literally looking at SI article with mookie betts and the headline states :
Mookie Betts Denies Report That Red Sox Made Him $300 Million Offer Before Trade
“That never happened. I know that’s out there and people say what they’ve got to say. But no, they didn’t do that. They didn’t.”
and now the conversation is over. with all of you.
They didnt want to overpay for Betts. They were also scared because some of those small players lose it and they didnt want to overpay for him.
johncoltrane: Whatever happened with Mookie in Boston doesn’t necessarily mean anything regarding the Red Sox current pursuit of Soto. Mookie has been gone for 5 years and their thinking has likely changed since then, especially with Theo Epstein back in the organization.
Mookie refused to sign with Boston. It wasn’t a matter of money.
@pool
I think the Roger’s are worth about $12b and Cohen about$16b. I could be wrong but if Roger’s is worth $12b Canadian then isn’t that like $8.5bil American? I could be wrong. Are net worth evaluations done in US currency? But regardless, I deal with a lot of wealthy ppl. It’s not so much about your worth a it is your stomach to spend yourself into a deficit. At the Jay’s owners willing to spend knowing they may lose money over the course of the fiscal year?
Also, and I think this is overlooked, Soto need to factor in, how much MORE are the owners willing to spend AFTER he signs with them to make the team WS contenders, and I do think that matters. The Jay’s, Mets and Red Sox have the MOST heavy lifting to do to become contenders whereas I think the Yanks and Dodgers have less work to do. Yanks likely want another bar to go along with Soto but have possible in- house solutions to plug other holes (Jazz @ 2b or 3rd, Durbin @ 2b, Dominguez in CF or Ben Rice or FA at 1b). They have 6 starters but still might splurge on another even if they sign Soto. The Dodgers are still spending wildly. Mets have to replace their top 3 starters and Alonzo.
Pretty sure any article about owners and their net worth will be in USD. If you read 12B, it’s almost certainly 12B USD.
I think if the Mets sign Soto they have to sign Alonso as well. It’s a 1-2 punch that best approximates the Soto-Judge in Brooklyn. Plus I think it’s good to have that protection. In Boston he will have Devers for that and if it’s Toronto then Vlady (at least for one year.)
Looking at only next year when signing a 15 year contract is very short sighted.
This is going to sound bitter (and it is) but I hope whoever signs him regrets it sooner rather than later.
Don’t care so much as to where he is going at this point, I just want him to sign. He’s holding up the pace of market activity.
Maybe things will start moving once his twin brother gets included in the deal with the logic of “once you sign Juan, you sign Jamal”.
hes gets 600 million, while doctors, and the real heroes of the world barely get paid. what the heck Earth
This isn’t South Sudan. Doctors in my hood seem to have a roof over their head and food on the table. Maybe even a fancy car and a sugar baby.
No one wants to pay a cable bill or buy tickets to watch drs teachers.
Sure many people don’t have the genetics to play sports but many never even tried. What percentage of kids play sports? What percentage of them are motivated to get proper instruction and train hard?
To make big time $ you need to entertain. To make even more start a business or invent something.
Are you joking that Doctors barely get paid?
Well I’m a proctologist and I can tell you that the ends justify the means.
@camikey
haha… very cheeky.
Lol, of all the professions to pick, doctors are among the highest paid. But I get the sentiment.
Lol come on get real doctors bareley get paid?
It’s called capitalism buddy
your idea is correct.
how about teachers? you know the ones who spend more time with our children than parents do? the ones whose job it is to influence future generations of great minds and thinkers?
some idiot who sings and dances on tiktok makes more $ !!
a guy who hits a ball with a wooden bat gets $700 million. an actor receives $20 million for a few months of facing a camera and saying pre-written dialogue. its very messed up…
Teachers don’t spend more time with kids then parents do. Not even close unless your a horrible parent.
Kids sleep 8-10 hours or spend hours in bed on their devices by themselves. If they play a sport, they’re at school for 8-10 hours. Parents see their kids for about a half hour in the morning and maybe an hour and a half at night.
I don’t know what to tell you if you think any of that is true. You might want to rethink your parenting.
You underestimate the number of horrible parents out there….
Teachers work 70% of the year. They get a tremendous amount of fringe benefits. The assignments, notes, lessons, and grading is done through computer programs. The only thing I believe teachers deserve need change in is better health insurance.
It’s definitely true more than you’d imagine. Has nothing to do with his parenting. I’m a teacher. Kids get to school at 745 in the morning. Leave at 315 in the afternoon (some stay later). Parents usually work til 5. You do the math.
Kids spend 8 hours a day in school 3rd grade till 12th grade typically 730am to 330pm or some variation including drop off prior to bell and pick up get off campus usually dies down 30 mins after school
Kids sleep minimum 8 hours a day
That’s 16 out of 24 hours in a day
Parents work 9-5 meaning they’ll probably see their kid an hour before school 630-730 am and maybe 4 hours after work 6pm to 10pm
Teachers typically see kids more during the week based on hours than parents do
8 hours a day verse 5 hours a day
Teachers see your kids 40 hours a week M-F. Parents generally 20. You’d have to spend 20 hours a weekend with your kids just to equal how much teachers see them.
You’re obviously not a teacher. What assignments, lessons, and grading is done through computer programs? Please, enlighten me.
Teachers also spend a ton of time outside of school hours preparing lessons and resources for their classes.
In some states you can’t even earn a living with only the income as a teacher.
Thank you for having the patience to explain this.
Well since kids school days are 180 days or less and a teacher has the kid a fraction of the day that they are in school. The average school day is 6-7 hours long. I hope you are better at teaching math than doing it. No teacher is even close to a parents responsibility and they should stop acting like it.
The average income for a teacher in the US is 70k a year with very good benefits. They get a couple months off during the summer and more days off during the school year then just about anyone. More Millionaires retire from teaching then just about any profession. Professors are at a whole different level.
Those things are not all done online lol.
You didn’t do any math on holidays, breaks, summers, sick days, excused absences. You also act like they spend all of the time at school with one teacher…kids move rooms, they have lunch, they have recess.
You obviously don’t know any teachers. They work as teachers 70% of the year. Most work other jobs the other 30%. Plus they have to take classes to keep up their certifications. While teaching, a lot of the grading takes place at home, after hours. Yeah, like every industry, some just go thru the motions, as you described. Hopefully, your kid gets assigned to one of the ones I’ve known.
Teens spend maybe six hours a day with their teachers, eight if you include after school activities. I would drop them off at 8, pick them up at 4 or 4:30. I’m in bed by ten, even if they aren’t, and the bulk of those evening hours are spent closeted in their rooms working on homework.
You can sling all the accusations you like, but teens spend much more time with teachers than they do with their parents. It isn”t even close, maybe 8 hrs vs. 3 hrs if you including driving them too and from school.
That said, their time at school is split between ~8 different teachers, with different teachers each year, and their time at home is with just one pair of parents. So we still have greater influence than any teacher.
From your comments, I assume you are neither a parent nor a teacher?
I have heard that argument before and its misplaced. Soto is one of the top 10-15 people in a field of work where only 1200 or so even get to work in the field each year.
A client of mine is one of the top doctors on the planet and he is a billionaire.
MD’s average $363,000 a year. Its not like they don’t get paid. Top specialists make $1 million per year and there are tens of thousands of them across the country. My wife’s oncologist just bought a Koenigsegg Agera. He is obviously not hurting for income.
Now if you had said first responders, police, firefighters, and especially paramedics, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. Some of them make less than $20 per hour.
I saw a job advertisement yesterday for an anesthesiologist in the far suburbs of Chicago. $6000/day for 17 weeks a year. I think they are doing ok.
no doctor ever hit 41 dingers with a 7.9 WAR
@Brick House Coffee Tables Inc
A friend of mine is a traveling anesthesiologist. The hospitals put him up in campus housing. Just choses where he wants to work across the states. He’s well over $200K/yr.
Oh I believe it. I know that a friend of one of my relatives has been one for about fifteen years, and she’s supposedly in the $500k range.
My doctor wears the same sweats every time I go in. Maybe one day he’ll earn enough money to stop seeing patients in the back of his van
You need to move out of South Sudan bro
Your fat teacher can’t hit a 97mph splinker into the bleachers
Doctors get paid. Good lord!
The answer is simple. in MLB there are 700 players roughly. Something like that. You can make the case that out of 335 million people only 700 make the cut. Out of that 700 you think everyone makes a ton. But many players have a fairly short career and the very top make the huge money like this. you can also demand huge pay. Many players end up hurt and never make the majors. That includes many top draft picks. So we talk about the money becuase thats part of the game now, but the other comparisons??
Professional athletes are actually UNDERPAID. Sports are a product that generate revenue through the voluntary participation of the fans. The players are substantially more important to that product than the owners who pocket a larger percentage of the revenue than the players receive. Now if you think that revenue should instead be redistributed to the heroes of the world, well I can think of some literature that you may find interesting…
In most major sports in the US the athletes get 48-52% of total revenue for that sport. Only in MLB is that number significantly lower than 50%.
Even then, the player’s share of the revenue should be more like 90%. The owners are leeches.
$675M if there’s that many teams over or at $600M
I think it will hit $700M.
Soto gets 701 million
People didn’t think ohtani would get past 600 million last year so I think Soto continues the trend
It all depends on deferrals. If he gets big deferrals he could go to $1B if he wants, it doesnt matter. Ohtani’s contract is only worth like $470M or whatever. With the silliness of contract structures now. people just want “big number” for the news articles. Maybe Boras gets more commission with the deferred structure?
Dodgers probably trying to get him for 2 million a year with the rest deferred again.
Great offensive force, but so was future HOF Miggy…… when you lose it, you lose it to foreseeably be on the hook for a ton of years.
Bad example for your argument as given age Soto has 9 more MVP years until his Miggy downfall at 34.
There have been rumors of Soto’s age being untrue. Not saying I believe it, but there is a reason it is in question.
cbraves: Anyone can start a rumor by just saying something.
@cbraves Rumors started by haters.
Pretty bold…since he’s still seeking his 1st.
That’s still 3-6 horrible high-priced seasons depending on whether it’s a 12 or 15 year deal.
really? how many MVPs does he have so far?
Miggy is in the running for top 5 obviously stupid contracts of all time. Never had a chance of working out.
Soto doesn’t have the unhealthy body that miggy has but Soto is already 220 so I could see him add (either fat or muscle) up to 240
That can happen. 12-15 yrs is a long time. Many of the 10 yr deals signed now will go upside down in the later yrs. Miggy was too heavy.What happens with Yankee fans is after a few yrs they want the next huge money free agent and they forget about the money paid to a guy like Soto.
Miggy’s reported weight at the end was about 267lbs. Horribly bad conditioning. If Soto stays in shape then he could easily be a 30 hr guy at age 38. Look at Pspi. He was a big guy but better shape than Miggy.
Papi was all muscle
Miggy was an amazing natural hitter, but Soto has once in a lifetime strike zone recognition and plate discipline. Like, it’s Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, and Juan Soto. That isn’t going to just fade away.
The Athletics could pay him 70m AAV, which would be more than double their currently projected payroll, and they’d still be 20th in spending.
When this all started I said it would end up at 15-16 years and $701 million. Nothing that has been reported so far has dissuaded that thinking.
I think that the Red Sox, Mets, and maybe the Blue Jays will all come in around that number.
I think that the only way its lower is if he has opt outs in the first 2 or 3 years and I doubt any team wants to give him one until after season 5.
I could see opt out after year 3. Yanks window is prob three years tops. I’d say mets best current window is about that too due to lindor and nimmo ages. I could even see the argument they’d prefer to have him for 3 years instead of 12-15
To Cashman’s credit he always keeps the window open!
I hope there is some type of team opt out for something this long. Maybe based on games available in years five and six, possible opt out at year 7.
Been saying all along, Hal man up and say here is x, not a penny more and you have 48 hrs to decide.
Good idea. Then four days later signs with the Red Sox.
Not the way it’s done in my mind!
slider32: But it’s being done in reality, not in your mind.
While Hal looks and sounds like an old timey guy, that doesn’t mean he should pull out an old timey tactic . That don’t really fly with superstars in 2024. Soto, won’t even look at the contract if he’s given that ultimatum.
Sox are playing chess
@RickEO, I thought baseball was the game.
That’s why the Sox have been losing so much! Playing the wrong game all along…..
Whats the yankees excuse?
Dodgers
The pennant-winning Yankees?
My goodness. This is risky having a large part of your budget paying for a Ted-Williams-like hitter who has worrisome defense. I doubt teams would meet his offer unless they are really wanting to take a large gamble.
Red Sox hid Manny for 8 years and Soto is no Manny in the field.
I’ll admit I haven’t really watched him, but if the Sox got him, I think they could teach him to play the Monster and it’d be a less taxing OF spot. If Manny could do it…
How is this any more dangerous for a large market team than say the Reds spending 40% of their payroll on Candy and Martinez
In what way is Soto a Ted Williams like hitter?
Juan Soto is not Ted Williams-like. The Kid came fresh out of 3 years in the Navy to post an OPS+ of 215 in 1946, leave that name out of your mouth when talking about any of this generation’s players.
25 of thirty teams agree with you. When all is said and done, 29 of 30 teams will have said its more than they want to spend on one player. True of all Free Agents.
Looking at $50-$60MM+ a season. Absolutely stupid money to be thrown around for a great hitter, but only a so-so OF’er and poor baserunner. Probably a future DH/1st base type player. At least the Braves won’t be getting him. Whoever does is in for a future of regret.
Dak Prescott makes that why not Soto?
Ha! Remember back when, with the Nationals, everyone was saying he’s get the largest contract ever at over $400M, maybe even $500M? Wow. Little did we know almost 3/4 of a billion dollars is the new threshold for superstars.
Waste of money. No way he lives up to it. It’s just too much. You could sign Corbin Burnes and Willy Adames for just over half that.
But then you wouldnt have soto…people , fans especially red sox fans who had zero interest in soto are now all in and expectant after the rumors and talk ..i know quite a few who will be let down if the sox dont sign him…its the thrill of the chase at this point..and not our money
Rather have Soto than Burnes Adames and 300m. Those 2 aren’t selling tickets. Corporations aren’t getting excited over them.
But I’d rather sign 6 Reynolds Kellers. 6 Acunas Striders.
The Red Sox have okay corner outfielders. They do not have an ace pitcher, and somehow even after Chaim Bloom drafted a thousand middle infielders and 11 different guys got a chance to play the position last year, they somehow do not appear to have anyone who can play second base.
Would I rather have Soto than Wilyer Abreu? Of course.
But Abreu is a fine player, he’s not what’s holding this team back. The lack of quality pitching and continuing to get less than nothing from the second base position is.
If it were franchise mode on The Show, sure, let’s go get everybody. But recognizing that this is the real world and resource constraints exist, if the choice is signing Soto or signing one or two of the top free agent starters and a lesser (but still quality) bat, the latter course of action is what actually represents the more drastic improvement for the Red Sox as presently constructed.
Yep, Burns 30, Adames 27!
And combined they don’t produce as much WAR as Soto nor are they 26.
Lol. Both adames and burnes would shock no one if they never returned value again. Sure theyre good players but youre comparing relative nobodies to a generational hitter
True, but Soto types don’t even make the playoffs on non contending teams..Look at Trout and Ohtani with the Angels!
@slider
What does that prove? Look at Ohtani year one on a good team. WS winners. That could be the Yanks of they bring back Soto and sure up a couple of holes.
The only thing I’m concerned about is other than bets Soto, Judge and Stanton, we might have a very young lineup.
We could theoretically go with The Rice at 1b, Durbin at 2b and Dominguez at CF. I like all 3 but would Cash be willing to rely on 3 rookies on a win now team? I really, really like all 3 and they all have pedigree that can fill the high walk good contact that we need but can we afford to go thru growing pains and count on Wells and Volpre to impetus and not regress. It’s interesting that the Yanks are blessed to be legit contenders AND have so much near ready talent.
@cincy
of course, he can live up to it. 10 elite years and 5 years of average all star. $50 mil per night not even be to 10 in 2034. Besides, Adames is no comparison to Soto and right now there would be a steep fall off from Judge to Adames in the lineup.
Arte Moreno will be the mystery bidder and offer him 15 years 750 mil. He will sign and be hurt by the All-Star break
He’s much to young and good for Arte to be interested in.
If he’s a flop the owner will still be fine, the fans on the other hand will be paying for years, literally and figuratively.
Just the opposite. Fans aren’t forced to pay for the product. Owner has to pay Soto though.
Can you say $700 million. Did anyone really think we say that about any sports figure a couple of years ago. Makes me wonder who is going to get the first $1 Billion contract in any sport in a few years?
its hard when you say contract because sports such as boxing and golf are big dollars but its not technically a contract but the top names in those sports definitely make more per event than majority of contract sport players.
Honestly though it is going to be a while before you see 1 billion i believe because how many “generational” talents are not under contract for the long term at this point. Maybe soccer since i dont know that sport well but they are making big dollars i think 3 out of top 5 contracts ever are soccer. players.
Harper Machado got 300. So 5 years later you figure 500 is on the table. Add in inflation you get 600. Add in thirst for live sports content you get 700. Heck if he signs with LA it will be pushing a billion this year with deferred. Unless something drastic happens the next young superstar can get to billions. And they are calling up prospects earlier.
right but in those times there werent as many pre arbitration eligible signing for all abritration years plus a year or two of free agency. This lowers potential as they are a bit older and getting super long deals due to age. Strider, Acuna, Kebrayan hayes (mistake i know), etc etc. So it will be harder to hit those 10+ year deals if they are older. I dont think any of the upcoming free agents for the next few years are going to get ohtani / soto money unless there is someone that escapes me.
Next probably would be the tigers pitcher or maybe jackson merrill but at minimum its 5 years away. But right now i dont see padres not pushing for long term deal ala tatis which will lower due to arb years and the tigers pitcher i honestly dont remember much on him, but with their payroll so low i can see them trying to push hard for early long term deal.
I don’t think Merrill is at the level. Pitcher won’t get a million unless some owner loses mind. Pitchers pitch 1 game a week and much greater risk of injury. It could be in 2 years if someone was a free agent. Teams seen this coming and extended everyone they could. It takes someone willing to risk it all for even more. It will be hard for someone to say no to half a billion but if they do they can get a billion. People would be real excited about Witt if he didn’t sign thay extension. He will opt out. They made same mistake sd did with Machado. Probably too old to get a billion but of not someone will come around who is not only as good as Soto but better. Players will be getting 1 billion “team friendly” extensions. Only thing stopping it is player availability. If Ohtani didn’t get tj he would have pushed it. If Soto could run he would push it.
That buys a lot of Kielbasa
Or backloaded?
Indications are trending back toward the Yankees.
And here comes the Dodgers offer, and guess what it is deferred, Soto is considering it. Will he or won’t he, will find out right before the Winter Meetings. They are saying it is around Ohtani numbers, with the deferments.
Ok, I’ll say it. Paying anyone $600 million to play baseball is absurd. It’s a GAME. A difficult game, yes, but a game. That level of money should only go to those who cure cancer.
How is he worth more than Ohtani?
He should be the max salary. Next year who goes for $800MM?
Age
Why do you care about how other people spend their $? They either think landing Soto will make them richer or they just find enjoyment having him playing for their team. Make something of yourself and spend 700m of your $ to cure cancer. Or run for political office. 700m is nothing compared to what they waste.
People must realize that regardless if the money is spent on a player or not it’s still the owners money. So if they don’t sign Soto and keep their 700mil, you think the owner deserves it more than the player?
So, in other words you’re saying it’s absurd that an organization makes the amount of money they do that they can afford to spend it on it’s employees? simply by entertaining you.
That’s…. not how any of this works.
Baseball generates revenue from the voluntary participation of the fans. If anything the players are actually underpaid. Because their labor is substantially more important to the product than the owners who pocket the majority of that revenue.
Blue Jays and Red Sox were just drawn I’m by Boras to set a nice high floor.
It’s up to Mets and Yankees ro see who will blink first.
Of course, the money is completely and utterly ridiculous and irrational. Just imagine just how much the owners are making!?!?!
Honestly, I just don’t even believe that they have actually offered this much.
Boras trying to drive the price up. Shipping extra!
Hal has no excuse not to pay this man whatever he wants, an extra 8-12m a year is a drop in the bucket of Yankees yearly revenue. If he wants to cry poor he needs to sell the team to someone who will run the Yankees like they are supposed to be run, with stars. All you people saying he can be replaced or isn’t worth it must not have seen the season I just saw where we had Gehrig/Ruth companions.
Please Hal, do it for Yankee fans everywhere, don’t let Steve Cohen buy our guy!
I hope Hal gets outbid. Soto is not worth even half of $600 million.
Every team has a budget. Yankees fans will keep watching with or without Soto. That’s most important.
@unglar
Sorry, I can’t fix my lips to say Hall hasn’t splurged for stars. The problem is that today’s FA aren’t hitting the market until 30+ and we usually end up regretting those contracts quickly. Give them credit on relying on their farm and knowing who to keep and who to trade, for the most part. Yanks do a pretty good job of retaining their home grown players. Cano was an exception but turned out to be the right move to let him walk. I hope Soto keeps Cano in mind as an example that NY might be the best place to stay even if the money isn’t the highest offered.
Hal has stepped up for some moves good and some moves bad.
He did right by the fans to keep judge, resign DJ La—may-hue whose name I can’t spell, sign Cole. But When a top 10 hitters prime years are available, when we’ve had him take us to the World Series, to come up short would be an embarrassment.
The dodgers have made a statement about who’s the real evil empire with buying and extending the stars (Betts, Freeman, Ohtani, Hernandez, Yamamoto, Glasnow… and so on). They built a core of mvps. And they paid them to do it.
I’d sign over 50/year for 15 years in a deal that’s stretched out for luxury taxes. Boras gets his trophy, Soto gets paid, Hal gets to keep his legacy as NY Yankee owner intact, the team gets an mvp and our immediate rivals in the East, across town and the ones whose boots are still lodged up our butts in LA don’t improve dramatically.
I think Cohen makes the biggest offer and Hal’s job is to say he’ll match it.
I bid $601M, but I’m just trying to raise the price.
That contract will be longer than some of will be on earth….
Let’s be honest here. The Dodgers are going to offer him a deal nobody can refuse. $650 million with $600 million deferred.. unbelievable
Why are the Jays even getting mentioned here?! Our front office should be calling Santander,Teoscar and Willy adames’s reps.
Yeah…I don’t understand why the jays are following the same path as last year…
Soto jet flying to Toronto!
Dayum.
And he doesn’t even pitch.
15 years, 50 million per year, $750 million, nothing deferred, Dodgers probably not in the non deferral market, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Yankees bow out and my guess is Soto becomes a Met.
The comparison to the trajectory of Miguel Cabrera’s batting is probably fair and the last 6 years probably won’t be pretty.
He’s not getting $750 million
I’m thinking closer to $600M, no deferrals, but with an opt out. Will be interesting to see how it lands.
Oh Canada
Our home and native land..
Ohtani’s Japanese market made his contract a bargain. what does Soto bring? there is no other marketing angle there. Vlad must be loving this – if Soto gets over 600, then what is his number next year when he too reaches FA in his age 26 season. his number gotta start with a 3 even if he’s a first baseman.
@steib
2 million Dominicans live in the US. 800,000 live within 7 miles of the Bronx.
did you see 22 NYY jerseys all over the major league markets and throughout the stands last season? maybe they were being worn under the blue 17 jerseys.
that said, I think he’s staying in the bronx
ridiculous that he could get more than Ohtani
He will only get more than Ohtani because of the years. AAV he shouldn’t be anywhere close IMO
He will get more years, but whether it ends up being more AAV in present value remains to be seen. Either way, we can see why the Dodgers thought they got the deal of a lifetime in Ohtani.
As a Yankee fan, I don’t think he’s worth the money. He had his best offensive season ever, but was hitting in front of Judge during a 10 war season. The abundance of walks are nice and all, but not worth 50 mil per. His defense is poor, and he doesn’t run well. He will probably be a DH within five years. I’m sure teams make projections based on his WAR to equate a long-term value, but 600 mil?? Plenty of Yankee fans cry about Stanton, who is only 22 mil toward the CBT. If the Yankees sign him, hopefully they give him plenty of opt-outs. Best case, he plays well for a few years and then leaves to sign elsewhere for his decline years.
Don’t rule out
MINNY – SOTO !!
Gotta think….with a long term contract; eventually will be just a DH. There’s not many 35-40 yr old guys hustling around in the outfield.
Could be a huge (very expensive) boat anchor, that limits the amount of disposable cash to spend on the other guys.
Go Mets!…go Yankees! Go Dodgers!
Any team signing him can afford 300 400 million payrolls. He won’t be a anchor.
Gonna be honest, if he ends up on the Dodgers I would just find that team to be a bit boring. Its a boomer take I totally understand and I am probably stupid as hell, but when it seems like it’s a certain team’s league to lose it doesn’t have the same hype. I wouldn’t hate them though, far from it. They are doing what every sports fan wants their team to do, spending and bringing all of the top tier talent into their organization.
I would find it hilarious and rooting for it.
I love baseball. MLB is a business. I find myself less-and-less a fan of MLB because the money is just absurd. Truly absurd. Been watching more college baseball over recent years – it’s a refreshing alternative.
Been that way ever since teams couldn’t treat their players like indentured servants.
Not so. I’m not naive to economics. As a kid in Toronto we’d get $2 tickets to Jays games at the local grocery store. Nostalgic? Sure. But the economic structure of contemporary MLB is discouraging.
It is so. Ever since players were able to unionize it has slowly but surely got to this point. You have to go back to like the 60’s to say this game wasn’t a “business”. And fwiw….college baseball is becoming more of a “business” by the day.
I said “MLB is a business,” I made no reference to a time when MLB was free of business dealings. Baseball is a sport. MLB is, by design, a business. College baseball, likewise a business enterprise, is well behind the economics of MLB and maintains a significantly more fan-friendly appeal than MLB – “it is so.”
Owners want to spend this $. There’s no other competition for these players except other owners. Every team can have a well under 100m payroll if they wanted to. It’s a business. They are spending $ to make even more $. They make plenty of bad individual calls but generally are successful.
As a Boston fan Soto is a want he’s not a need. Word is he was a big time Red Sox fan growing up and he is Devers neighbor big sell by big Papi as well. Maybe he does come to Boston but doubt the Red Sox are going to the top bidders. The reality is Boston needs pitching and more specifically they need a tor pitcher. If they are willing to spend north of 50 million for one guy per season then they should have no problem getting Fried or Burnes just go get one or even better both strike now and then go sign Tanner Scott. They would be barely over the lux tax and that would be a team to be afraid of. They would still have the all their prospects to make trades. They have a ton of prospects coming they will have a ton of depth for injuries. This team is moving toward its goal and I’m loving how the pitching in the minors are taking to the Bailey/Willard pitching lab so many pitchers taking giant leaps forward.
This team is coming just address the pitching this year and watch what happens.
Here’s hoping Hal taps out. One-dimensional Juan isn’t worth anywhere near $600 million. Please, Steve Cohen, outbid Hal by $50 million! I’m begging you!
Dodgers: $2 million a year through 2324.
Soto voce, if you will…
Mets will probably sign him. Yankees should focus on Walker, Bellinger and Santander. Please no Adames or Bregman. I‘m also not a huge fan of Burnes. But they need a SP2.
Soto isn’t Ohtani. I simply don’t understand where the value comes from here. Bad defence, bad baserunning, no international market…. I want him on the Jays but this kinda money will be an instant regret for whoever writes that cheque.
@skell
All that poor defense and base running and he ended up having an 8 War season. His career walk rate is the highest over a 7 year span. He’s not walking so much Nevada he’s hitting in front of Judge. Think about it. Teams don’t want Judge hitting home runs with runners on base.
I think Soto’s bat is going to age extremely well. He’s got the raw power and the best plate discipline the league has seen in quite some time. He is the only player in baseball history to have at least 750+ walks and a OPS+ above 150 through their age-25 season. Even if he has to move to 1B or DH as he gets older and his already below average glove dips even further, his bat would play wherever.
Contract terms aside, how cool would it be for the Sox to roll into NYY w Soto hitting 3rd and Chapman lingering in the bullpen?
Soto homering in the 9th to give Boston the lead and Chapman blowing the save to give the Yankees the win.
Yeah, I could live with that.
Toronto will pull a Clemens. Sign him and trade him for pennies on the dollar two years later.
If we are being fair, David Wells actually put up pretty solid overall numbers after being traded back to Toronto in the Clemens deal. It was the Wells/Mike Sirotka trade two years later that literally sucked for both teams.
baseball needs a hard salary cap this is pathetic
Soto and Pete Alonso are the two biggest sluggers available and the pay difference between them is going to be astronomical
@rsox
But Soto is a much better overall hitter. You get the power without the 150 ks
True. But i can’t remember the last time we saw two premiere sluggers on the market with likely at least $400 million seperating them in salary
@KnicksFanCavsFan,
Soto has his share of K’s – 119 in 2024. But I agree, Soto is light years ahead of Alonso as hitter. And I’m a Mets fan.
Perhaps once Alonso signs he’ll relax and stop pressing at the dish. He’s declined as hitter over the past few seasons whereas earlier in his career, he was viewed as a better rounded hitter for power, batting average and OBP with upside. That upside to be well rounded hitter long term, just hasn’t developed.
Absolutely ridiculous. Any team that pays him that much on a long term contract is going to regret it.
For him to get anything like what Ohtani got defies logic, when you consider Ohtani bats, steals and pitches at an elite level, while Soto bats, can’t field and can’t steal.
Ohtani prints $ as well and most importantly.
@Astros_fan_in_Aus
Ohtani gets it easy with his seasons of not pitching and only DHing. No wear and tear from playing defense or being worn down in the field by dog days of summer.
You’re a well-known Ohtani hater based on your previous comments, “LongTimeFan1”
So it was first reported that Soto will sign by the Winter Meetings. Now it’s the end. I’m betting pass the W.M.
So much for Boras losing his touch. Dude’s still got it.
Hear me out. The Team Formerly Known As Oakland signs him to a 14 year $654M contract on the understanding that Las Vegas taxpayers will pay it.
I’ve been saying Soto was overrated for years, and actually thought we (NYY) traded too much for him. Welp, I ate my hat (needed a new one anyway) this season because he’s beyond the real deal. I just kinda loved everything I saw. Is he worth the money? No, but I don’t often care about the money (says the guy in debt), so we need to stop at nothing to bring him back.
No matter we do after, if we lose Soto after having the advantage of having him here for a season coupled with him wanting to be here, it’ll be amongst one of greatest failures not only in franchise history, but baseball history. That’s a sell the team and fire everyone type failure because none of that FO and ownership will deserve to be part of the Yankees any longer.
@Salzilla,
The choice is Soto’s. If he wants to remain a New York Yankee, he will. You’re assuming that he wants to. We don’t know that.
Of course, but from everything that has been reported over the years, he’s wanted to play here and liked this past season. It’s up to NYY to make it happen monetarily, though, because he isn’t taking a “hometown” discount. Washington already learned that.
SD I am sure is very pleased with King Cease. They have them next year as well.
That’s nice, but that’s old news and not pertinent to Soto signing here. Also, King is a stretch lol.
Right on. Do the right thing Hal!
The last 5-7 years of a 15 year deal will be regretted.
Father time is undefeated, and without chemicals, skills erode over time.
@This one belongs,
8 years from now which starts the last 7 years of 15-year deal, he’ll be 34. He’s unlikely to turn into tissue paper by then if he stays relatively healthy and takes good care of himself.
Since you’re a Reds fan, Ken Griffey jr who debuted at 19, and was very injury prone still hit 20 homers in just 83 games.in his age 34 season.
At 35, Griffey had a .946 OPS and hit 35 homers. in 128 games.
Griffey as CF, had lots of wear and tear on his body in a way Soto is unlikely to experience.
Probably still better hitter than anyone the reds have.
A 15-year contract would constitute malfeasance on the part of the involved club officials. I could see 10 years plus a couple of club-option years; no more.
Would it still be malfeasance if the team wins a championship?
Soto is heading into his age 26 season and is still rather young. There’s an inaccurate belief he can’t improve defensively and on the bases. He can and should, and I believe will if there’s a plan in place to help him grow that part of his game that seems to have taken back seat to his offense..There’s more there to unlock.
Furthermore, if he reduces his K’s, he should return to .hitting above .300. He’s upper eschelon in nearly every bat to ball statcast measurement. Put the ball in play a little more and more hits will follow.
I am sure after getting a guaranteed 600m paying him until he is 40 that he will be extremely motivated to work on his base running and defense. If he was ever going to do it 2024 would have been the year you would think.
@YourDreamDM you are spot on
after watching him play a full season for my team i believe he’s worth whatever he gets. he’s a safe bet to average 6+ war over the next 5 years and the intangibles are off the charts. he’s got a swagger that rubs off on the rest of a lineup. every at-bat is a show a la reggie jackson. if he ends up in boston i’m not responsible for my actions…
He’s going back to the Yanks. He’s been using every other team to drive up his price. The Mets are the Nets of NY he’s not going there, sorry Mutt fans. Soto will sign in the 13-15 year range for an annual salary between 47-50 million per year. Mark my words #22 will be in monument Park and in the HOF.
@Swedish Viking,
If he stays healthy he’ll be Hall of Famer. But whether he remains a New York Yankee, is unknown. Your hoping and wishing has zero impact on what will happen
He certainly could sign with the Mets or Boston. Not to your liking, but real possibility..
I agree. He’s staying a Yankee. He’s just doing the same as Judge did when he was a FA. Just making it more expensive to the Yanks to keep him.
Ohtani’s contract was the beginning of the end of baseball
@radhippo
that’s what they said in 1920 when the Red Sox sold The Babe to the Yanks for $100,000, plus interest.
Please explain
Boras overplaying his hand again with his ‘leaks’
I think the Yankees are out. Probably will be Mets or Dodgers. Bye Juan — it was nice having you for one season as a Yankee. Best of luck.
So, when the Sox are out-bid, is the story that they were never “really serious” about Soto? Was JH just trying to create the “illusion of contention” by leaking stories about being “in on” Soto?
Or were the Sox serious, but the price tag was too high? Did they make a real bid, but decided the asset wasn’t worth the cost when the price went over $600mm.
What story will you choose to believe when Soto doesn’t go to Boston?
The bidding will soon reach $700M due to the added value Soto brings in golden at-bat situations.
God bless Rob Manfred.
So they are going to golden shower him with $
He’ll get even more money if he helps his team win the piece of metal.
I guess it’s possible he Durants the Yanks by going to the team that knocked them out and won the Series. Dodgers. But I still think he stays with Yanks.
I like the Mets chances best. Yankees right there though bidding him up.
The thought of watching Soto’s contortions and grimaces for the next decade should give any fan chills. Every at bat is an over acted off, way off, Broadway play. There. I said it.
Soto Sweepstakes Power Rankings
1 Mets
2 Yankees
3 Dodgers
4 Boston
5 Toronto
6 Giants
7 Phillies
8 Padres
9 Angels
10 Nationals
11 Royals
I think it comes down to the battle of NY. Yankees already have fans and attendance. Mets benefit more pr marketing ticket sales. Dodgers have the star power. They have THE STAR. They also have the $ and willingness to spend it. They will bid up NY at the very least. Boston has the $ and would benefit from marketing pr. They should be in the 3 spot but with their recent all talk little action I didn’t do it. Toronto could benefit anymore, but they would have to significantly outbid the others. Giants really need some excitement. The gave out that awful Correa contract until they wiggled out of it with the ankle stuff. Philly likes to spend. Padres like to get in on everything but don’t really have the resources. Angels could use a non aging over the hill star. Nats because he used to be there and they have payroll room. Royals I seen the mlbtr article. If your team is in 1 2 spot you should feel really good. 3 4 you got a chance. After that try not to think about it but maybe you can get a Christmas surprise.
This is a joke, right? This guy isn’t even a five-tool player. Juan Soto is a poor defender and can’t even run the bases properly.
At least with Shohei, he’s a generational player. He’s a hitter/starting pitcher who can field well and steal bases. Soto has power and speed, but a complete player… .not so much.
He has no speed. You’re basically just paying for hit tool and power. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he’s really like 3-5 years older than his given age as well.
I don’t believe this is true. I don’t believe he will get 600 million. We will see but I am saying it now I don’t think this will happen.
I can believe it. It’s probably deferred $ and a lot of it. He might not be interested in that or that team and signs a standard contract for less. I’m sure they threw a huge deferred contract at him if nothing else to tax their competition.
Ohtani is a generational talent with marketing possibilities that have perhaps never been seen before.
Soto is a good baseball player.
I don’t think he’s getting 600 million.
I don’t think he gets 600 either unless deferred. These owners though are capable of just about anything though. And a few teams it might be worth it for them. I can see the Mets Giants for sure doing it. Can see Jays Sox as well. Yankees Dodgers would be a head scratcher.
Looks like the Rays might be out of the running. Shocker
Pirates too
“With multiple $600MM+ offers in hand, there’s not much chance of Soto pivoting to a short-term deal.” – Soto signs 2 Year, $600mm deferred contract with Dodgers.
As a Sox fan I hope he goes to the Mets. I don’t want one guy taking up 20-25% of our payroll. In today’s CBA it’s necessary to got under the luxury tax from time to time in order to draft high and replenish your farm. Signing Soto will almost guarantee going over the threshold for the foreseeable future.
Thinking about making a bid, myself… got $38 in my wallet, lets do this
You’re going all in! This is front page news!
Am I in the minority here when I feel this is a huge overpay for this guy? Don’t get me wrong he is very talented but to me he isn’t a difference maker player where you can’t imagine your team without him.
He’s a difference maker as much as 1 baseball player can be. He’s top 10 at least right? You aren’t paying him because he’s the best. He’s just the best available. At a age not many free agents have been available. And you aren’t paying just for his talents.
You’re not in the minority. These hedge fund companies are using their investors money on this folly.
Ridiculous. Soto is worth some serious bank. He’s not worth $600+ million though.
He’s worth 600m to some teams. More than 600 but they want to keep some $ for themselves.
Way too much money
This is why professional managers are needed to run owners’ businesses.
One of the most overrated players in recent memory just because of his age.
NOT WORTH IT
This is click bait! I’m insulted!
He is coming to Boston.
Overpay, by all means.
Sorry. He’s a good to great player but he’s not worth 15 years or $600M. I wish him and the team his signs with the best of luck.
First off- the MLBPA encourages all free agents of their particular level of demand/quality to improve upon the last year’s by a few hundred thousand or a few million per season, so that contract values don’t flatten or deflate against inflation overall. So the guy who’d have been seeking $1M last year will be encouraged to try for $1.25M or $1.5M this year or the guy who’d have equated to $10M last year will be encouraged to aim for $11M this year, etc.
I get the sense people in the comments just don’t like the idea of someone making $600M, not someone entering their prime 7+ years making $40M+ a season and getting that standard tax on teams mixed in the bidding war of an extra few years, which almost always happens. The winning bid is always an extra year or two and/or an extra $2-5M a year tacked on. Always.
Most guys in Soto’s position tend to make the argument they’ll be worth the money or they’ll prove to be a slight discount over the life of a contract worth an AAV that will break the record the next few seasons but be eclipsed or look wising by halfway through or at the completion of the deal.
That’s how contracts of this profile have worked since the FA salary explosion of the late 90’s.
$8M yesterday was insane, $12M today is insane and $15M tomorrow is insane and next week $20M will be standard, $30M will be on the high end and $35M will be insane… until $35M standard, $40M is on the high end and $45M is insane, etc.
Also keep in mind, for the most part these teams operate on budgets that still allow them to be profitable, or the ownership sees the team as a side business, an expensive toy they love to play with.
Whatever Soto gets, the team giving it to him isn’t thinking about how insane the price will be- they’ll be thinking about how the added revenue of his profile will be profitable and his presence on the roster will be a net plus in games won over enough of the deal that when he’s that aging contract with years burning off, there will be another Jeter / Manny / Lincecum / etc. that will make this Soto AAV or overall deal look reasonable if not quaint.
I just sort of tend to think of it like how done folks see $50k a year as “they’ve made it” while others see up to $500k as “cute” and yet others see $100M a year as “cute”.
It’s all relative.
Soto’s eventual deal will simply be market value, by definition.
Just pick a team and the best city and deal for Soto and then move on.
It is an injustice to the other free agents, teams planning for 2025, fans and MLB for Boros to drag these negotiations on and on and on.
It seriously hurt the earning power and longer term contracts for multiple pitchers and players last year who had to start Spring Training late, then got off to very slow starts in the 1st half of the 2024 season.
This long drawn out negotiating process may have also lead to player injuries as many affected players were late in their Spring Training activities and tried to rush back before they were ready for the grind of a long baseball season.
I think he goes to Boston. It’s all about money not winning. Red Sox it is!
MLB and the Players Union should REFORM the off-season free agency process, set up some guard rails to protect players from injury and protect teams, fans and the game from all the problems associated with increased risks on the players including late Spring Training, players not ready to play, increased risk of injuries etc…
Perhaps, MLB and the Players Union should establish negotiating windows, timelines, deadlines for having deals done before Spring Training etc..
Fines could be established against: teams, agents, players etc for bad faith negotiating tactics.
Maybe just fine the teams, the agents and the players for not acting in the best interests of baseball.
And/Or Disqualify team #1 from signing the player in question for 1 year in bad faith negotiating tactics.
Ditto with the player(s) and the Agent(s)..
Move this process along or face fines and sanctions against
negotiating parties: Teams, Players and Agents.
And/Or inject and independent arbitrator if the Parties are stalemated and want to move forward but cannot seem to compromise.
Split the difference or have the arbitrator rule on a fair contract
take it or leave it.
If you leave it, then you cannot negotiate with that team and player for
1-2 years etc…
So many possibilities to move this process along.
They have 4 months+ to hammer out these deals.
It is plenty of time to get it done.
If some teams and agents cannot operate within those time lines,
then take less clients and do not hold up the entire MLB
while you go through this song and dance with each one of your many clients.
Or, hire more negotiators and do not micro manage every one of them.
I am surprised that the League and the Players Union
have put up with these long drawn out bullsheet negotiating tactics for so long. It has lead to a rash of injuries and players not physically ready for a long grueling baseball season.
It is wild the length to which fans will go to justify to themselves that they don’t want one of the best baseball players in the world on their team.
You can sit there and think that he isn’t worth the price, or that no baseball player should make that much money all you want. You are complaining that a talented athlete is making too much money while the team owners who bring in more than Soto will per year are the ones making these offers. The owners are allowed to rake in hundreds of millions per year but once a player gets paid what they are worth, it is too much.
The justification for billionaire owners being allowed to make so much is so often that they are the ones “taking the risk.” But when the owners start to bid on a great player, the argument becomes that it is “too risky” and the back end of the contract will be dead weight.
Either the owners are almighty beings that deserve so much because *only* they are capable of making the business decisions that lead them to unimaginable wealth or they are so foolish to be willing to offer one player so much. Or maybe we could actually think about it and realize that the ones making the offers to Soto realize that the investment is worth the return.
Steve Cohen won’t be outbid….except for Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell, Judge, etc.
How many times does he have to lose out for everyone to stop repeating “Uncle Steve won’t be outbid”.?
It isn’t like he has spent on starting pitching or bullpen help. I get it that Soto is different, but he lost out on a slew of star players already. And even in some cases where he was not outbid.
I’ve always thought he would stay with the Yankees and always hit in front of Judge and also the lure of being in the Playoffs every year, not to mention the aura of the mystique. Although, I can’t see Uncle Stevie being outbid this time. LGM!