At just 26 years old, Juan Soto has already cemented himself as arguably the best hitter in Major League Baseball, and one of the top athletes in American sports.
Despite being relatively young for a superstar, Soto boasts a loaded resume: he is a four-time All Star and Silver Slugger Award Winner while being named to All-MLB First Team twice as well. He also was the National League Batting Champion in 2019. In addition, he is a multiple time Gold Glove Award Finalist for the right field position.
He pairs these accolades with traits such as exceptional plate discipline, as he currently ranks fifth all-time in walk rate, and tenth all-time in career on-base percentage for hitters who meet a minimum of 2,000 plate appearances.
This past season, he hit his 200th home run on Sept. 17, marking him as the seventh-youngest player in Major League Baseball history to do so, at 25 years and 328 days old.
His career stats do not disappoint either, as he’s managed a .285 batting average over the course of six years, with 934 hits, 201 home runs and 592 runs batted in.
In total: Juan Soto is very, very good.
Recently, free agency has been extremely rewarding to talented players such as generational talents such as Juan Soto. Just last year, Shohei Ohtani signed a ten-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a comical $680 million being deferred afterwards. He will make $2 million annually from 2024 to 2033, then $68 million annually from 2034 to 2043.
It’s extremely likely though that Soto, already being a World Series champion with the Washington Nationals in 2019, will not want that money deferred over multiple decades. Rather, he’ll want to be paid. This gives way to his contract making up a large portion of his signing team’s payroll, regardless of who it is. This likely eliminates small market teams, such as the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals, for example.
However, it is very likely the Soto Shuffle will stay local.
The New York Yankees, New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies are currently the three top teams rumored to be pursuing Soto this upcoming offseason.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, fresh off their World Series win, have also been another organization attached to the Soto sweepstakes. But their main issue is a conglomerate of massive contracts for the majority of their starting lineups and pitching rotations, as seen below:
Shohei Ohtani (LHP/DH): Ten years, $700 million
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (RHP): 12 years, $325 million
Mookie Betts (UTL): 12 years, $325 million
Freddie Freeman (1B): Six years, $162 million
Will Smith (C): Ten years, $140 million
Tyler Glasnow (RHP) Four years, $115 million
Noting that the aforementioned pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow spent an extended period of time on the injury list this past season, along with Shohei Ohtani not pitching at all in 2024 due to receiving Tommy John surgery on his left arm, the Dodgers’ best bet may to provide stability to an injury-depleted starting rotation, especially with starting pitchers Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler, along with relief pitchers Joe Kelly and Blake Treinen entering free agency this winter.
Let’s look back to the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies for a moment.
Scenario One: Juan Soto resigns with the New York Yankees
During the regular season, this decision wouldn’t be as shocking as it would be now, citing the Yankees’ disastrous offensive collapse against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the World Series. Pairing this issue with a lack of pitching consistency aside from ace Gerrit Cole, who decided not to opt out of the remainder of his contract, it seems the Yankees’ main focus would be to add another solid starting pitcher, and to add young, offensive consistency throughout the lineup, especially with the contracts of older players, such as infielder DJ LeMahieu and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, aging extremely poorly.
Scenario Two: Juan Soto crosses the city and signs with the New York Mets
Mets owner Steve Cohen is no stranger to shelling out extreme amounts of money to attract top-tier talent to Queens, as he spent $260 million on pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, only for them to be subsequently traded after the Mets’ mid-season collapse in 2023. However, they have an extremely young team compared to the Yankees and Phillies, and while they need to retain the starting rotation who’s dominance allowed them to make a deep run in the postseason, such as Sean Manaea and David Peterson, it would be a completely understandable decision to chase Juan Soto with a blank check. Joining MVP candidate Francisco Lindor, Soto’s
postseason heroics and experience, along with his presence in the locker room would appeal to the younger players, and despite only being 26 years old, it would add another veteran bat to their already formidable lineup.
Scenario Three: Juan Soto rejoins Bryce Harper and Trea Turner and signs with the Philadelphia Phillies
After the Phillies’ extremely disappointing postseason performance against the New York Mets in the National League Division Series, it has been shown there is much work needed to be done to return this team to a World Series contender. A lack of offensive production between outfielders Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and Nick Castellanos have proven to be one of the biggest issues plaguing the Phillies from this past season, along with a lineup that featured multiple players batting under .200 this past postseason. Soto’s offensive prowess would go a long way for this declining Phillies offensive, and it would add a spark of youthful competitiveness and grit this team is lacking in all areas.
Juan Soto, along with his agent Scott Boras, have both stated that every team in the league will have an equal opportunity to sign him. When he signs, and where, and most importantly for how much is only a matter of time.
