Getty Outfielder Juan Soto is set to hit free agency after 2024. It appears as though the Mets and Yankees could be bidding for his services.
It was a tale of two offseasons ahead of 2024 for the New York Mets and New York Yankees. The Mets made a bunch of lower-tier acquisitions while the Yankees grabbed more headlines. People around baseball are expecting them to engage in a high-priced bidding war next winter for outfielder Juan Soto, though.
SNY’s Andy Martino shared a report on February 18 about that possibility. Martino did say it’s too early to report on anything concrete regarding Soto and his potential free-agent market. However, he also said, “There really isn’t any reason why the Mets wouldn’t make a push for Soto.”
A league executive who knows Mets owner Steve Cohen told Martino he thinks New York will try to land Soto and re-sign first baseman Pete Alonso.
The Yankees made one of this offseason’s biggest splashes by trading for Soto in a seven-player deal with the San Diego Padres. The 25-year-old will earn $31 million in the Bronx this season, per Spotrac.
What are the chances Soto will sign a long-term extension? Not likely, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is aware of that. “We recognized when we went into this situation that the odds are that it’s a one-year situation before free agency,” Cashman said on February 16, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “Certainly, that can change, I guess, but the odds are certainly against that. He’s this close to free agency. I don’t see too many things stopping him from hitting free agency.”
What Kind of Contract Will Soto Be Looking For?
The Washington Nationals offered Soto a 15-year, $440 million extension in 2022 to stay in DC. That was rejected, and the Nats then traded him to the Padres. The Scott Boras client will likely be looking for a payday higher than that, but just how high?
ESPN’s Jeff Passan said in December of 2022 that both Soto and Shohei Ohtani were “primed” to be MLB’s first $500 million players. Ohtani made good on that promise this winter by signing a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Athletic’s Tim Britton tried to quantify what Soto’s next contract could look like back in December. Based on the outfielder’s recent production, Britton valued the first five years at $50 million per season. That was followed by $32 million per year over the next nine, bringing the total value of his projection to 14 years and $540 million.
This Would Be the 1st Yankees-Mets Bidding War of the Steve Cohen Era
Since Cohen officially took over the Mets in November of 2020, his squad hasn’t directly competed with the Yankees for elite players. Outfielder Aaron Judge would’ve been a logical target following 2022, but the Mets didn’t aggressively pursue the right-handed hitter.
Then, there was the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes earlier this winter. The Mets joined the Yankees and Dodgers as the three finalists before the hurler chose Los Angeles. However, Martino said the Mets knew by November that “they were longshot underdogs.”
If the Mets meaningfully pursue Soto, this will be the first time Cohen and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner truly go head-to-head for a high-priced player. The outfielder spending 2024 in the Bronx gives the Bombers a natural upper hand. Especially if they perform as well as some projections expect them to.
Either way, it should be entertaining to watch this situation unfold over the next several months.