Insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post raised plenty of eyebrows in the MLB community when he reported on Thursday that “up to 11” teams, including “two small-market” clubs, had already “checked in with interest” regarding free agent Juan Soto.
Three of those franchises remain the favorites to sign the All-Star outfielder this offseason.
According to Heyman, “one close friend” of Soto’s thinks the 26-year-old will either re-sign with the New York Yankees, join the New York Mets or put pen to paper on a deal with the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Per Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets were among the “first teams to check in on” Soto’s interest shortly after the Yankees fell to the Dodgers in the World Series this week.
Back in October, “one of Soto’s friends,” who is a former teammate, reportedly revealed that the Toronto Blue Jays would eventually “make an astronomical offer” for Soto once they’re able to speak with him in free agency next week. That was before Heyman and ESPN’s Karl Ravech mentioned that “Soto’s new magic number is thought to be $700M (or more) — and that’s a solid $700M, not the record $700M contract that’s 97% deferred that Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani received from the Dodgers” last offseason.
It was previously said that the structure of Ohtani’s deal would allow the Dodgers to “make a play for Soto ‘if he’s interested'” this fall. Meanwhile, outlets such as The Athletic repeatedly note that “no one has deeper pockets than Mets owner Steve Cohen.” Cohen can afford to outbid the Yankees’ Hal Steinbrenner and every other owner for Soto’s services. Still, Steinbrenner likely realizes that losing Soto to his club’s crosstown rivals would infuriate customers who just spent hundreds and even thousands of dollars to watch the Bronx Bombers lose two of three home World Series games.
As of Thursday afternoon, Soto’s camp (which includes big-name agent Scott Boras) was reportedly “fully prepared” to negotiate through “the middle or end of spring training in March” to land the type of deal that likely will result in the slugger resetting the market for position players. Theoretically, such a timeline could allow a mystery club to swoop in and steal Soto from the supposed favorites before Opening Day.