Last MLB offseason, free-agent MLB players represented by agent Scott Boras fell over $150M short of predictions for guaranteed money they received via contracts.
It appears that won’t impact how All-Star outfielder Juan Soto handles his free-agency journey coming off the New York Yankees’ loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in this year’s World Series.
“From now until the time Soto signs, everyone will be looking for signs of where he’ll spend the next part of his career,” MLB insider Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports wrote for a piece published Thursday afternoon. “Since he’s a Scott Boras client, we already know that the superagent has a tendency to wait it out until teams give him their best and highest offers. Last year, several of Boras’ top free agents didn’t sign until the middle or end of spring training in March. Soto is fully prepared for that same process and outcome with his own free agency.”
Soto strongly suggested following the Yankees’ Game 5 defeat on Wednesday night that he will sign with the highest bidder and won’t give the Bronx Bombers any kind of discount in negotiations.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic and others previously mentioned the Yankees, Dodgers, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays as teams that could afford to sign the 26-year-old. The Blue Jays reportedly are preparing to make Soto “an astronomical offer” as soon as next week.
It was said before the World Series began that a big-spending owner such as the Mets’ Steve Cohen could present Soto with a deal worth up to $600M. On Thursday morning, ESPN’s Karl Ravech predicted Soto’s contract is “going to be in the $700M area.”
Also on Thursday, SNY’s Danny Abriano argued that the Mets could be the favorites to win the Soto sweepstakes because of Cohen’s “willingness and ability to outspend any team for any player.” Additionally, the Mets just completed a trip to the National League Championship Series and have a boatload of money coming off their books.
“There is pressure to perform (with the Mets),” Abriano added, “but nothing near the level of the business-like, highly-pressurized atmosphere in the Bronx, where the type of facial hair you have, how long the hair on your head is and the amount of chains you wear is controlled from above.”
The only thing for sure about Soto’s future as of Halloween is that it seems he won’t make a final decision anytime soon.