Juan Soto is expected to decide where he will sign either before or during baseball’s winter meetings in Dallas, which will take place from December 8-12.
Soto has already met with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays, according to a person close to the negotiations, who spoke anonymously because the details haven’t been made public.
Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, asked teams to submit their initial offers by Thanksgiving, said another person familiar with the situation, also speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Soto is considered the top free agent available this year. A four-time All-Star, Soto finished third in AL MVP voting after hitting .288 with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, and 129 walks. Over seven seasons in Major League Baseball, he has a .285 career average, 201 home runs, 592 RBIs, and 769 walks.
In 2022, Soto turned down a $440 million, 15-year contract offer from Washington, leading the Nationals to trade him to San Diego. Last December, San Diego traded him to the Yankees. Soto then teamed up with Aaron Judge to help lead the Yankees to the World Series, where they were defeated by the Dodgers.
As part of his pitch to teams, Boras pointed out that Soto became only the second player, along with Mickey Mantle, to have seven RBIs in a World Series at age 21 or younger when he played for Washington. He also became the youngest player at age 20 to hit five postseason home runs. Soto’s postseason OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .906 through age 25 is better than Mantle’s .900 and Derek Jeter’s .852.
How much money will Soto get?
Soto is expected to seek a contract that could break records, possibly surpassing Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers from last December. However, Soto’s contract may not exceed $700 million, as Ohtani’s deal includes $680 million in deferred money, meaning it is valued differently depending on how the money is calculated.
For example, under MLB’s luxury tax system, Ohtani’s contract is valued at $46.1 million per year ($461 million total), based on a 4.43% discount rate. The players’ association uses a 5% rate, which brings the value of Ohtani’s deal to $43.8 million per year. For regular payroll calculations, the contract is valued at just $28.2 million annually with a 10% discount rate.
This means that if Soto signs a deal worth even $462 million without deferred payments, it could be considered the most valuable contract in MLB history.
By average annual value, pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are tied for second in MLB history, earning $43.33 million per year as part of contracts with the New York Mets, which expired at the end of the 2024 season.
Ohtani’s contract, in terms of total value, surpassed outfielder Mike Trout’s $426.5 million, 12-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, which runs through 2030.
The longest contract in MLB history belongs to outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who signed a 14-year deal with the San Diego Padres that runs through 2034.
