Dominican superstar Juan Soto is approaching a decision on free agency and could choose his destination at the end of this week, says source familiar with the process
LOS ANGELES — The highly publicized free agency of Juan Soto is approaching to their final stagesand one source familiar with the process opens the possibility that he star outfielder can choose his destiny at the end of this week –before the start of the annual winter meetings.
Agents and industry executives will arrive in Dallas on Sunday. Soto is widely expected to sign a record contract before leaving this Thursday and could do so before he even arrives, an industry source told ESPN on Tuesday.
Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, declined to offer a definitive timeline.
“When you go through these things, you just have a lot of information to analyze,” Boras said during Blake Snell’s introductory news conference at Dodger Stadium. “We’ve had meetings with several franchises. The process of eliminating teams and doing things has begun. Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see. I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future.”
The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are the five known candidates for Soto, whose deal is expected to exceed $600 million and could extend for 15 years to carry value to unprecedented levels.
Shohei Ohtani secured the largest guarantee in baseball history with the 10-year, $700 million deal he signed with the Dodgers last offseason. But more than 95% of that contract is deferred, reducing the current value to $460 million for luxury tax purposes.
Soto’s deal could surpass that — and will serve as the latest example that the free agent market is moving much faster this winter. Last offseason, four of Boras’s most notable clients — Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bellinger — did not sign contracts before spring training. Before this year’s winter meetings, Boras had already finalized deals with Snell and fellow starters Yusei Kikuchi, Frankie Montas and Matthew Boyd.
Soto, the 26-year-old who is already one of the best hitters in baseball history, could soon follow.
When asked why teams seem more willing to spend money this offseason, Boras said: “I wish I could answer those questions. I do. I think a lot of that has to do with the certainty of the media, the platforms that work as they should and the transmission system that they have in place is very viable, very profitable. I don’t think they like to say that, but obviously the markets indicate that there is a different attitude about what it is.
“And also, who is in the market has a lot to do with things too. You have franchises in big markets and you have generational talent, which really illustrates the needs.”
