Aaron Judge left money open to remain in New York long-term. The Yankees won't be as lucky with Juan Soto even in the event that they win the World Series.
Sure, Soto is an undisputed contender who desires to go somewhere where he at all times has a likelihood to play come October. The impending free agent was just 20 years old when the Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019. He still calls that team “a family,” and for years afterward — even when the Nationals traded him — Soto had that family and their trophy as his cellphone screensaver.
In San Diego, despite struggling at times, Soto was cited by many people within the organization because the rare star who truly valued winning over individual numbers. Defeats equally bothered him when he played 0-on-4 or 4-on-4, regardless that he often stayed within the cage for hours without getting hit. It was a habit he picked up in Washington; Soto spent an October night within the D.C. batting cages with former hitting coach Kevin Long, working well past midnight to get out of the slump, only to later emerge because the Nationals' playoff hero.
Soto doesn't just benefit from the game's biggest moments, he feeds off them, as evidenced by his Tenth-inning home run late Saturday night that led the Yankees past the Cleveland Guardians and secured New York's first World Series appearance since 2009.
It could be silly to think that a player like Soto, who is predicted to sign a mega-contract this winter that might tie him down for the following decade or more, wouldn't care if he won all of it. But records are also necessary.
Several people said this spring that they imagine Soto's camp is after Shohei Ohtani's record-breaking deal. Ohtani's contract called for a 97 percent deferral, but still put his average annual value today at about $43.78 million, which is closer to $46 million after luxury tax calculations.
Soto, who earned $31 million in his final arbitration yr, could easily eclipse each of those numbers and set a brand new record, although Ohtani's $700 million total still looks as if a pipe dream unless Soto is prepared to simply accept high deferrals. (It's price noting that it's not unusual for Scott Boras' clients to simply accept heavy deferrals. Soto's former teammate Max Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210 million contract before the 2015 season, which had a record variety of deferrals on the time. )
Soto, who turns 26 on Friday, was widely expected before the season to be in search of offers starting at around $500 million. Fresh off an everyday season through which Soto posted an fWAR of 8.1 – behind only Judge, Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr. – it wouldn't be a surprise if Soto's youth and playoff performance put him closer to $600 million brand would bring.
Boras, coming off a disappointing offseason for a few of his top clients, shouldn’t have any problem getting Soto – who has drawn comparisons to Ted Williams – every penny he deserves. But any notion that the Yankees' victory within the World Series would give them a big lead over re-signed superstar Soto seems wishful considering at best.
Juan Soto chats with Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets, one other team that may very well be serious about Soto. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Trophies are nice, but Soto — who turned down $440 million from the Nationals before being traded in 2022 — has often talked about driving the market and moving things forward for the following group of players. That's not precisely the type of attitude that reflects a willingness to depart tens of hundreds of thousands on the table, as Judge did when he turned down the San Diego Padres.
With Soto finally attending to select his team, he won't be losing out for the foreseeable future – I don't think the Miami Marlins or Chicago White Sox could pay him enough even when each most unlikely suitors decided to accomplish that. But the opposite team expected to be a key player for Soto, the Steve Cohen-owned New York Mets? Well, they only had a terrific run and finished two wins behind the Yankees.
Soto loves New York; He has family in the world and his parents can easily fly in from the Dominican Republic to stick with him. If this is really a two-team race for Soto's services – and given his preference for the East Coast and the large money that comes with it, that might well be the case – it's hard to assume a scenario through which A couple of more wins in October will play a concrete role in differentiating the Yankees from the Mets.
Cohen is the game's richest owner and isn't afraid to breeze through luxury tax strata. If Cohen decides he has to have Soto, it shouldn't be hard to persuade him and Boras that the Mets are on the up. Under President David Stearns, the organization is predicted to undergo significant internal changes in his second full season on the helm, replacing and restructuring greater than 20 positions. Stearns and rookie manager Carlos Mendoza got the very best out of the roster and the Mets secured a wild-card berth – someday after the regular season was imagined to end – for the NL Championship Series.
On neither New York team does Soto immediately change into the star of the team; Both Francisco Lindor and Judge are under contract with their respective teams through 2032. Although Soto cares about being the face of a company, Lindor doesn't get nearly the national highlight or attention that Judge deserves.
The Yankees went all-in on a yr of Soto, and so they are 4 wins away from that bet paying off handsomely. But keeping him in pinstripes beyond 2024 would require one thing: record money. Every other conversation is just that.
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