Although he could not win the World Series with the Yankees a few days ago, Dominican player <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/best-player-according-to-mlb-network-shohei-ohtani-dethrones-mike-trout/" title="Best player according to MLB Network: Shohei Ohtani dethrones Mike Trout”>Juan Soto is on the eve of starring in one of the highest contracts in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB).
The moment the Dodgers won the Fall Classic on October 30, Juan Soto’s free agency was activated. He is 26 years old and made his MLB debut in 2018 with the Nationals, then went through the Padres (2022-2023) and, finally, the Yankees (2024).
His resume postulates him to sign one of the most lucrative contracts in international baseball: he was a World Series champion in 2019 with Washington, he has been nominated four times for the All-Star Game (consecutively from 2021 to 2024) and has also been awarded the awards Babe Ruth (2019) and Silver Slugger (four times between 2020 and 2023).
According to MLB’s own estimates, the Caribbean baseball player’s next contract would be between 500 and 600 million dollars for at least 10 years. That would leave him with an approximate annual salary of 50 million.
“Given that Soto has already turned down $440 million and is still in the middle of his prime, many within the industry expect him to sign a deal worth more than $50 million per season for at least 10 years,” the official site mentions. from MLB.
That quote refers to the fact that in 2022 the Dominican rejected an offer of $440 million for 15 years with the Nationals, his first team in MLB. He was convinced to improve that offer a couple of seasons later, when he completed his arbitration years in 2024.
Now that the offseason is approaching 2025, it is time for Soto and his agent, the prestigious Scott Boras, to sit down and listen to offers.
The ceiling of contracts in MLB was established by the Japanese Shohei Ohtani in the previous offseason, prior to 2024. The Asian was signed for 10 years by the Los Angeles Dodgers, after ending his relationship with his neighbors Angels, in exchange for 700 million of dollars, a milestone for baseball and for the sports industry in general.
With Soto, a contract is not expected to equal and much less exceed that of Shohei Ohtani, but it could match the estimated salary per year.
“Since $680 million of that deal (between Ohtani and the Dodgers) was postponed until 2034, the current value of that contract is a little over $460 million, which gave Ohtani an approximate annual salary of $46 million.” says MLB.
It remains to be seen who will be the team that will offer that figure to Soto. This week, journalist Jon Heyman, New York Post columnist and MLB Network insider, pointed out that there are eight teams in the bidding: New York Yankees and Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays.
However, Scott Boras mentioned that Juan Soto wants to make the decision cautiously, studying each case even with interviews with the team owners.
“Due to the volume of interest and Juan’s desire to listen to teams, I can’t set a deadline (for finalizing his next contract), but it will be a very thorough process for him as he wants to meet people personally. “He wants to talk to them and listen to them.”
Some of the MLB players who are currently under the direction of Boras are Max Scherzer, Corey Seager, Gerrit Cole, Cody Bellinger, Carlos Correa, Max Scherzer, José Altuve, Alex Bregman and the Mexican Randy Arozarena.
“It is a business opportunity where you can literally earn billions of dollars by acquiring someone. You can really see that the owners and general managers are called to be championship magicians and that is difficult, generating that magic to seek a championship. But behind every great magician is the magical Juan (Soto),” Boras added.
The Dominican Juan Soto closed the 2024 season with 41 home runs, 109 runs batted in and 128 runs, which were key for the Yankees to achieve the best record in the American League (94-68) and then win the Championship Series.
