Juan Soto is the top free agent available and he’s expected to make a decision soon.
The New York Yankees are focused on re-signing Soto. However, MLB insider Ian Browne of MLB.com doubts they will be able to keep the star outfielder.
“I don’t know what place the Yankees are going to finish,” Browne wrote in an MLB.com article. “But I am increasingly skeptical he winds up there. If he was enamored that much with his time in the Bronx, why drag this out unless the Yankees aren’t extending past $600 million? There’s a chance he wants to be the man — the player a team is branded around. That’s not happening with the Yankees.”
If Soto doesn’t sign with the Yankees, the other three teams in the running are the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. However, it does appear that the Mets and Red Sox are the front runners to land Soto.
Soto is a four-time All-Star and won the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019.
Insider Believes Yankees Will Have Final Offer for Soto
Soto is expected to make his decision shortly, and MLB insider Mark Feinsand thinks the Yankees will be given the chance to make the final offer.
All four teams in the running will make hefty bids, as Feinsand expects the Yankees to have a chance to match the offer.
“Will he be “The Man” with the Mets? That’s Francisco Lindor’s team. Maybe he would be the man in Boston,” Feinsand wrote. “I think the Yankees believe they will have a final crack to match or beat whatever the best offer they have is. So why throw out your final number now? Soto and [agent] Scott Boras aren’t signing without taking that final deal back to the Yankees… I won’t count the Yankees out of this race until I see Soto put on another jersey at a press conference next week in Dallas.”
Feinsand also believes that the interest from the Mets, Red Sox, and Blue Jays is a big smokescreen to get the Yankees to give him more money.
“Ah, the misdirection. This feels like a big smokescreen,” Feinsand wrote. “Get the Blue Jays (and Red Sox?) involved to scare the Yankees about having to face him in the AL East for the next decade-plus. Get the Mets involved because they have the most money. And, because the Yankees won’t want to lose him to the Mets and see him on the back pages for the next decade-plus.”
Soto hit .288 with 41 home runs and 109 RBIs in 2024 with New York.
Soto Nearing Decision
Soto’s free agency is nearly over.
The star outfielder is fielding offers and is expected to make a decision soon, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
“The industry’s agents and executives will descend upon Dallas this Sunday. Soto is widely expected to sign a record-breaking contract before they depart the following Thursday and could do so before they even arrive, an industry source told ESPN on Tuesday,” Gonzalez wrote.
Boras – who’s Soto’s agent – didn’t offer an exact timeline when Soto will make his decision.
“When you go through these things, you just have a lot of information to meld through,” Boras said of Soto. “We’ve had meetings with a number of franchises. He’s begun the process of eliminating teams and doing things. Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see. I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future.”
However, all signs point to Soto making his decision within the next week.
Comments
Insider ‘Increasingly Skeptical’ Juan Soto Will Re-Sign With The Yankees