- Juan Soto was the biggest name on the free-agent market by a wide margin, and he is the largest domino to fall in the offseason.
- After meeting with several teams, including his former team, the New York Yankees, Soto signed a 15-year deal with the New York Mets for $765 million.
- Soto’s new deal is now the biggest contract in all of professional sports history.
The Juan Soto sweepstakes have finally come to a close. The right fielder was the biggest name on the free-agent market in Major League Baseball. His decision would shape the direction of the market during this offseason.
After meeting with a few teams, including the New York Yankees, where Soto played last season, he made his decision. The 26-year-old will sign a mammoth 15-year contract worth $765 million with the New York Mets, and it is now the largest contract in the history of professional sports.
Soto Shuns Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, to Sign with Mets
The news of Soto’s massive contract was broken by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, and it sent shockwaves through the sports world.
Soto held meetings with a slew of teams, but the Mets, the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers made it to the final round, it was reported. In the end, Soto decided to take his talents from the Bronx to Queens.
The 26-year-old Soto is known as one of the best hitters in all of baseball, and last season was his best yet. He hit .288 with a career-high 41 home runs, along with 109 RBIs, and finished third in the American League MVP voting behind former Yankees’ teammate Aaron Judge, and Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr.
Soto was also excellent in the postseason for the Yankees, hitting .327 with four homers and nine RBIs, taking 14 walks along the way. The Yankees would lose to the Dodgers in five games in the World Series. It should be said that the Yankees reportedly offered Soto a 16-year deal worth $760 million, but Soto took the Mets’ deal instead.
Mets’ fans won the internet on Sunday night as they were ecstatic about the Soto signing. Now, the rest of the MLB free-agent market can start to move as everyone was waiting on Soto. There are still a slew of players out there, such as Corbin Burnes, Pete Alonso, Roki Sasaki, and a host of others.
Will Soto Take the Mets to the World Series?
The Mets’ World Series odds opened anywhere from +700 to +1200 at MLB betting sites. As of Monday morning after the Soto signing, the odds were off the board as bookmakers try to evaluate the Mets’ chances now. They were awful for the first part of the 2024 season, and only a late surge took the Mets to above .500 going into the second half.
A red-hot September took the Mets to the postseason, where they beat Milwaukee in the National League wild-card game, then took out Philadelphia in the divisional series. The Mets took the Dodgers to six games in the championship series, but it was a success considering where they were in May and June.
Now, they have one of the top three bats in the majors in Soto, who isn’t great defensively as a right fielder, but that’s not what he was signed for. Soto will be paired with shortstop Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and hopefully Alonso, a lifelong Met who is now a free agent. But you can be sure that the Mets are going to soar up the board at online sportsbooks.
