Yankees Offered Juan Soto Record-Breaking Deal: Report

New York Yankees, Juan Soto, New York Mets
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Juan Soto looking ahead taking off his batting gloves

The New York Yankees have officially lost Juan Soto to the New York Mets, a tough situation for the franchise and fan base. After hope of the Yankees re-signing the best pure hitter in Major League Baseball, not only did he leave, but he left for the team’s biggest rival.

The Yankees weren’t too far off on Soto, with the Mets agreeing to a 15-year, $765 million deal. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Yankees offer for Soto was $760 million for 16 years.

The difference in that is $51 million AAV compared to $47.5 million AAV.

There was reason to believe Soto wanted the most money available, and he took just that.


What Will the Yankees Do Now?

The New York Yankees now face one of the more difficult challenges in franchise history. While losing Soto was always a possibility, the reality has now settled in. To make matters worse, the Yankees’ offer wasn’t too far off from the New York Mets.

As the Yankees look to improve their roster without Soto, they have options. According to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, they’ve questioned whether it could be better to use Soto’s money on multiple players and have spoken with others.

“The Yankees have had Zooms with Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, whom I’m told they like a lot. Lefty. Minaya familiar w/ him from time in SD,” Kuty wrote on December 8.

“Some within the Yankees all along were questioning if they could better use the money Juan Soto will be getting by spreading it around to multiple players. Now, we’ll see.”


Soto ‘Got Everything He Wanted’

When Soto declined the Washington Nationals 15-year, $440 million deal, many questioned what he was thinking. While that was a big risk, and it doesn’t always work out, Soto has done nothing but get better since.

It’s easy to look at what he did with the Nationals in their World Series win, and a lot more in his career. However, when Soto came to the New York Yankees, arguably the toughest place to play in the world, he did nothing but swing the bat at a high level again.

Entering last season, the expectation was for Soto to get a $500 million deal this offseason. Instead, he signed for almost $300 million more.

It’s been a long time coming for him to get paid, but the time is finally here.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic believes Soto “got everything he wanted,” highlighting his preference to hit free agency.

“He knew where this was heading when he turned down the Nationals’ $440 million. His journey from Washington to San Diego to the Yankees and now the Mets was perhaps livelier than he imagined. But in the end, he got everything he wanted. The right to choose in free agency. A record-setting contract far beyond what the Nationals offered. A long-term home with a team he one day will represent in the Hall of Fame,” Rosenthal wrote on December 8.

This is as big a day for New York City baseball as ever. The Mets flipped the script, showing the Yankees they’re here to make noise.

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Yankees Offered Juan Soto Record-Breaking Deal: Report

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