Getty Yankees star Juan Soto
There were some eyebrows raised, no doubt, when Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner told SNY’s Jack Curry last week that the team would like to sign outfielder Juan Soto to a long-term deal, and would even be willing to break the team’s unofficial policy on not negotiating in-season extensions to do so. There are exceptions to rules, Steinbrenner said, and Soto would be one of them.
Soto, too, has said he’d be wiling to sign an in-season deal to stay in the Bronx. But around baseball, according to conversations had by MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand the feeling is that the Yankees and Soto are giving lip service to a potential deal that’s just not going to happen until after the World Series.
While Steinbrenner and Soto might be OK with it, agent Scott Boras, licking his wounds after a rough 2023-24 offseason, surely will not.
“There’s no chance,” an American League executive said, per Feinsand. “I think he ultimately signs back with the Yankees, but Scott takes his guys into free agency …
“A 25-year-old Juan Soto has to hit free agency regardless of the agent. He’s too good a player having too of a good year.”
Juan Soto Off to a Good Start Start in NY
Indeed, Soto is having a bang-up first year in New York, and has hardly been jumpy when it comes to signing the mega-contract that is surely heading his way. He passed on the “last-best” offer from the National remember, before they traded him to the Padres in 2022 and that offer was 15 years and $440 million.
Putting up a .315/.416/.551 slash line in pinstripes, for a Yankees team that has surged to the best record (33-16) in the A.L. has not hurt Soto’s chances at landing a record-setting contract.
It’s generally assumed that Soto is heading toward a deal worth at least $500 million this offseason, probably the richest contract for a player who does not pitch. But Baseball America in the offseason boldly predicted that Boras would get Soto a contract that would top the $700 million given to pitcher/hitter Shohei Ohtani by the Dodgers last offseason with a $701 million deal.
“Juan Soto is only a batter, and doesn’t pitch, so in any other situation, it would be unlikely he’d command as much as Shohei Ohtani. However, with a top-shelf talent like Soto, making history with the largest contract in history will be a key priority for Scott Boras,” the venerable publication noted.
Yankees Bidding Competition to Be Limited?
One point in favor of an extension, though, would be the harsh reality of a Soto contract: No one can afford it. If Boras and Soto pass on an extension and wait to hit free agency, they could find a nuclear winter ahead, as Boras’ clients found the past offseason.
Another exec told Feinsand that there are likely only two other suitors who could get into the mix for Soto—the Dodgers and the Mets. What if the Mets simply re-sign Pete Alonso and stay out of the Soto bidding, and the Dodgers decide their payroll is already too unwieldy to handle another record contract?
The first exec cited those two teams as candidates for Soto.
A second told Feinsand, “Not many teams that can afford him, so the pool is limited. But it’s hard not to wait and see what the Mets are willing to pay.”