All eyes are on Juan Soto this MLB offseason, and the free agent slugger could be choosing a team in just a few days.
Mega-agent Scott Boras signaled his client’s free agency was entering its final stages during an interview with reporters Tuesday, saying Soto had begun eliminating teams from the process. From ESPN:
“When you go through these things, you just have a lot of information to merge together,” Boras said during Blake Snell’s introductory news conference at Dodger Stadium. “We’ve had meetings with a number of franchises. He’s started the process of eliminating teams and doing things. Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see. I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future.”
While Boras framed his update by saying he doesn’t expect anything in the near future, ESPN reports that a decision could be made by the end of the week. That would be just before the start of the MLB winter meetings in Dallas.
As for what kind of money Soto could bring in, Athletics reports that he has received offers of at least $600 million from all of his remaining suitors. The teams currently known to follow him are still the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. The Athletic also reports that Soto is expected to make his decision by the end of the winter meetings.
So $600 million is the floor for Soto. The biggest question mark, of course, is the cap.
Will Juan Soto surpass Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million?
Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract remains the largest known contract in sports history.
Soto isn’t expected to come close to Ohtani’s $70 million average annual value, but when it comes to total money, it seems possible. His deal will almost certainly be more valuable than Ohtani’s when adjusted for inflation; MLB estimates Ohtani’s deal is worth about $460 million for luxury tax purposes.
But people mostly care about big numbers. Soto already having multiple $600 million offers is a good sign that a $700 million deal will be made – or has already been made – but a difference of $100 million is still a long way to go.
There is many moving parts that will decide where Soto lands with Ohtani. He has the benefit of being in free agency more than three years younger than Ohtani, but there’s no indication he’s willing to pad his numbers by taking on deferrals. There’s also the possibility of opt-outs, which would make teams more hesitant to open the checkbook if they could only get three or four years out of him.
But importantly, Soto doesn’t have the economic advantages inherent to Ohtani, who earns millions in Japanese advertising money just by walking on the field in a Dodgers uniform. Soto is a great player, but Ohtani is the national hero of the country with the world’s third-largest economy.
We still don’t know if Soto will surpass $700 million, but at the very least, being the subject of a bidding war between all of MLB’s biggest financial hitters is a pretty good place to be.
