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The New York Yankees will soon face the reality of potentially losing Juan Soto in free agency. However, before then, their focus will be set on winning the World Series.
Many in the baseball industry expect Soto’s decision to come down to the Yankees or their crosstown rival, the New York Mets. Mets owner Steve Cohen has proven during his tenure that he is willing to spend on players he believes could help his team win a World Series.
Joe Tansey of Bleacher Report predicted the Yankees would re-sign him to a long-term deal in the offseason. However, he added that if they lose in their Wild Card Series, “there could be even more motivation” to bring the superstar to Queens.
“The Yankees would obviously love to have Soto back in their lineup for the long haul. He’s made a massive impact alongside Aaron Judge on a team that has the potential to win a World Series. New York’s postseason success may or may not be a factor in Soto’s offseason decision,” Tansey wrote on October 3. “A World Series title could begin to establish him as one of the Yankees’ all-time greats, or a playoff push that comes up short of a title could motivate him to win with the Yankees.
“The Mets will always be a player in big-name free agency, and if they fail to win their Wild Card Series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, there could be even more motivation to bring more power to the lineup. The pull of the Yankees will be hard to ignore, and that is probably where Soto ultimately lands, but it will be fascinating to see the stops the Mets pull out to lure him to Queens.”
Soto Predicted to Land $500 Million Contract
ESPN polled 28 MLB executives, agents, and insiders to come up with Soto’s contract prediction. Only three predicted he’d get less than $400 million, while 17 predicted he’d get $500 to “at least” $600 million.
“The median projection of those deals is 13 years, $500 million, and those numbers align with the industry consensus of the expectations for this contract right now.
“A full half of the responders projected a number between $500 million and $599 million, with another three topping $600 million in their projections. That means 61% — 17 of the 28 respondents — believe Soto will get at least half a billion dollars from a team this winter,” Kiley McDaniel of ESPN wrote on June 11. “That would set a record for present-day value: Ohtani’s 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers included so much deferred money that its NPV was $460 million.”
With Soto looking at a potential $500 million deal, only a few teams around Major League Baseball could realistically sign him. The New York Mets and New York Yankees are two of those teams.
Why the Yankees Need to Re-Sign Soto
Soto proved his worth during his first year with the New York Yankees, hitting 41 home runs and posting a .989 OPS in the regular season. With the duo of him and Aaron Judge, keeping him around could help the Yankees win a World Series in the foreseeable future.
For a franchise looking to win their first World Series title since 2009, losing Soto wouldn’t help them get any closer to that.
The fan base has also shown him love, constantly cheering for him to re-sign, which would only add to the issue if he left, especially for the New York Mets.
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