Mets, Soto finalize record-breaking 15-yr, $765M deal

DALLAS -- Many folks around baseball were still arriving in Texas on Sunday evening when the news began rippling through the industry. Only two words mattered.

Soto. Mets.

The details emerged rapidly from there, filling in the gaps of a long-anticipated marriage between one of this generation’s finest hitters and perhaps the sport’s most eager team. The Mets on Sunday agreed to sign Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract, by far the largest pact in Major League Baseball history, which was finalized on Wednesday after a physical.

The deal contains a full no-trade clause, a $75 million signing bonus, an opt-out after five seasons and no deferred money. The Mets will have the ability to void Soto’s opt-out clause after the 2029 season if they boost the average annual value of the final 10 years of his deal from $51 million to $55 million, according to a source. In that case, the overall deal would be for 15 years and $805 million -- a $53.66 million AAV.

“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement. “Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree. Our Amazin’ fan base is very excited to welcome Juan to Queens. Congratulations, Juan.”

It is an historic commitment for a franchise seeking exactly that. For the better part of half a decade, owner Steve Cohen has worked to make the Mets the envy of Major League Baseball -- a team that can not only be competitive on the field, but also for all the most significant players in the sport.

That pursuit has taken several forms, but most recently, Cohen has looked to Soto as the most obvious vehicle to transform the Mets into feared contenders. Even while practicing relative austerity last offseason, the Mets had one eye on Soto’s impending free agency. When Cohen’s club fell two games shy of a World Series berth in October, their attention turned immediately in his direction.

Over the next six weeks, as Soto’s price climbed higher and higher, Cohen did not blink; to the contrary, he emerged as the reason why the bidding was so feverish, pushing Soto’s price out of reach for the Dodgers, the Blue Jays, the Red Sox and, eventually, even his former team in the Bronx. The Yankees topped out at a 16-year, $760 million offer, according to a source, leaving the Mets alone in guaranteeing Soto $51 million per season -- by far the largest average annual value in Major League history. (The crosstown foes will renew their rivalry, Soto front and center, on May 16, in the Bronx.)

Although Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers last offseason, 97 percent of that money was deferred, resulting in a real-world value of around $461 million. Soto’s contract dwarfs it -- and every other deal in MLB history -- by any measure imaginable. It more than doubles Francisco Lindor’s $341 million contract, which was previously the largest the Mets had ever given a player.

That the Mets were willing to give such a deal to Soto was a credit to everything he has accomplished over seven years in the Majors. At age 19, Soto debuted with the Nationals, hitting 22 home runs in 116 games. At age 20, he won a World Series, taking a part in three champagne celebrations before he was of legal drinking age. Over six full MLB seasons in Washington, San Diego and New York, Soto has five Top 10 MVP finishes. And he’s still just 26.

The latter number was what convinced the Mets to make their historic commitment. Halfway through his 15-year deal, Soto will only just be entering his mid-30s. Most players don’t hit the open market until the back ends of their primes. But because Soto debuted as a teenager, he became a free agent at a much earlier juncture.

There is reason to believe Soto will age well, considering his 160 career OPS+ ranks eighth in MLB history among players through their age-25 seasons (minimum 3,000 PA). The seven names in front of him are either inducted in Cooperstown or on their way toward enshrinement: Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Jimmie Foxx, Albert Pujols, Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby. Only Mantle and Foxx had a better career on-base percentage at that age than Soto, who boasts the highest career OBP of any active player. Over more than 4,000 plate appearances, he owns a .285/.421/.532 slash line.

Not counting his partial rookie season and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Soto has averaged 33 home runs and 130 walks per season. He has made four All-Star teams and won five Silver Sluggers, and he’s coming off a year that saw him club a career-high 41 homers with a .989 OPS for the Yankees.

Soto is, in short, the type of player accomplished enough and young enough to give the Mets instant credibility as perennial World Series contenders -- the type of thing this franchise has struggled to achieve throughout its more than six-decade existence. More often than not, the opposite has been true. Less than a day before Soto agreed to terms, the Mets were the punchline of a joke on Saturday Night Live.

They are not a punchline anymore. Not with Soto joining a team that just came within two wins of the National League pennant and that intends to continue to invest, invest, invest until it reaches the ultimate goal. The Mets could still bring back Pete Alonso, who is a free agent, and they are certain to acquire additional pitching. While the NL East remains one of baseball’s most competitive divisions, the Mets did not acquire Soto to complete their roster. They acquired him to be the centerpiece of a team that will continue to add.

Shortly after Soto agreed to terms, the NBA star Donovan Mitchell, a lifelong Mets fan by virtue of his father’s employment with the team, posted a screenshot on X of a grinning Soto flashing a peace sign on a video call. Within minutes, thousands of likes and comments came streaming in.

No, the Mets are most certainly not a punchline anymore. Quite suddenly, they are a destination -- the perfect marriage of a brilliant player in his prime and a billionaire owner who simply refused to be denied.