Juan Soto’s Comments on Free Agency Sound Promising for Yankees

Getty Juan Soto finishing his swing

The New York Yankees are focused on winning a World Series, but they’ll eventually have to address Juan Soto’s pending free agency over the next few months. Soto could land a contract north of $500 million, a massive price to pay for one player.

However, if there’s one player in baseball who might deserve that contract, it’s Soto due to his production and being just 25 years old.

His free agency will be the biggest storyline of the offseason, and he recently spoke about it with Jorge Castillo of ESPN.

“I let him do his thing in his area, and I do it in mine,” Soto said of Boras. “I think that’s the best way to do it. I’m intelligent in my playing field, in everything I do. And he’s intelligent in his area. So I think that’s how we’ve done it and we’ve felt very comfortable with how we’ve done it.”

Soto then added a comment that should excite Yankees fans, highlighting his desire to be part of team history.

“Who doesn’t want to be part of Yankees history?” Soto said. “I think the only way to be part of Yankees history is being a champion.”

Five Teams Expected to Be Interested in Soto

While the left-handed slugger has proven to be worth the price of his next contract, slashing .285/.414/.567 with 39 home runs and a 174 OPS+ in 2024, only specific teams can afford him.

According to Castillo, five clubs “could make calls” on the New York Yankees star.

“The Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are among the other clubs that could make calls,” Castillo wrote. “The Nationals would love a reunion, according to people with knowledge of the situation, but it would take ownership allocating more money for Soto than they were previously willing to offer.”

As always, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a real threat. The other teams have spent money, too, but the Dodgers have proven to be willing to spend more than any other team in the league.

Aaron Judge Offered Advice to Soto On Free Agency

Aaron Judge recently dealt with the same thing Soto is dealing with for the New York Yankees. The fan base and city clearly loved Judge, but there are always other factors in players’ decisions.

Ultimately, he returned to the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million deal.

With him understanding what Soto is going through, he advised him on what to expect.

“I just kind of talked to him early on and said, ‘Hey, just do your thing. There’s going to be a lot of noise, but you play your game, you do what you can. All that stuff’s going to work out at the end,'” Judge said, according to Castillo.

“And we kind of just left it at that because I know how it was when I was going through it. I didn’t want somebody bringing it up every single day. I didn’t want somebody to bring it up every month. After a good month bringing it up, after a bad month bringing it up. It’s just, ‘Go do your thing.'”

Only time will tell if Judge’s comments helped, but Soto has a tough decision to make.