As much as Juan Soto made it known he enjoyed playing for the New York Yankees this past season, there was never a question that he would reach free agency this fall and attempt to reset the market for position players.
Nevertheless, Yankees announcer Michael Kay isn’t a fan of how Soto and big-name agent Scott Boras are handling the All-Star outfielder’s free-agency journey.
“I think it’s unseemly,” Kay said about the Soto sweepstakes during Tuesday’s edition of ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show,” as shared by
Jimmy Hascup of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “Now I believe that he should get as much money as he possibly can. He should break every record if he can. You know, you should have teams bidding against each other, but having them make presentations to you like this.”
Kay was referencing how ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others revealed that Soto will begin meeting with teams in California this week. While the Yankees and New York Mets are widely seen as the favorites to sign Soto, the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox have been named as serious contenders to win the 26-year-old’s signature.
Industry insiders have suggested Soto will accept the best financial offer even if doing so means playing home games outside of New York. Thus, negotiations could result in the slugger earning between $600M-$700M in guaranteed money via his next deal.
“He handled himself in a really great way all year,” Kay added. “Why do this? Why make people dance for you?”
While Kay is the voice of the Yankees, there’s no indication that team owner Hal Steinbrenner feels as strongly about having to play by the rules set by Soto and Boras regarding contract talks. Boras said at the general manager meetings last week that Soto wants “ownership that’s going to support that they are going to win annually.” The upcoming meetings will provide clubs such opportunities to prove that they’re committed to winning throughout at least the remainder of Soto’s prime.