How Soto fits Mets, the market impact, and more
The best free agent of the 2024 offseason has agreed to the biggest free-agent contract in MLB history.
After a fantastic 2024 season with the Yankees, Juan Soto is headed from the Bronx to Queens after coming to terms Sunday with the Mets on a 15-year deal worth $765 million, sources told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
The contract is the largest and the longest the sport has seen. Soto's pact surpasses the $700 million deal inked by Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani in December 2023.
It's a contract fit for the game's best hitter, and Soto arguably is that. He just completed his age-25 season and already has 201 home runs, five Silver Slugger Awards and a batting title (2020). In 4,088 career plate appearances, Soto owns a .285/.421/.532 slash line. His on-base percentage is the best among active Major Leaguers.
In 2024, Soto was an MVP finalist for the second time in his career; he finished third in the American League MVP voting three years after finishing as the runner-up in the NL vote while with the Nationals. He hit a career-best 41 home runs this past season, led the Junior Circuit with 128 runs scored and recorded 8.1 fWAR, fourth-best in MLB. He also authored one of the most thrilling moments of the postseason, bashing a three-run go-ahead home run in the 10th inning of ALCS Game 5 to help lift the Yankees to their first pennant since 2009.
He'll now try to hoist the Mets to equal heights. So when will the Mets and Yankees renew their rivalry in 2025, with Soto front and center? Their next matchup will be on Friday night, May 16, at Yankee Stadium.
Soto by the numbers
2024: 157 G, .288 BA, .419 OBP, .569 SLG, .988 OPS, 41 HR, 109 RBIs, 8.1 fWAR
Career: 936 G, .285 BA, .421 OBP, .532 SLG, .953 OPS, 201 HR, 592 RBIs, 36.3 fWAR
Here is a breakdown of this massive move from all angles, via MLB.com experts:
What this means for the Mets
via Mets beat reporter Anthony DiComo
Since Steve Cohen purchased the Mets in 2020, he has worked to make the franchise 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. Sunday, for the first time, Cohen proved his ability to do so.
The Mets, who were never serious contenders to land Ohtani last offseason because of Ohtani¡¯s personal preferences, pursued Soto with vigor from the start. They had two primary things to offer: Cohen¡¯s seemingly bottomless well of money, plus his willingness to spend it -- not just on Soto, but on additional players to ensure a competitive roster for years to come. Cohen, who has produced record payrolls during his time as owner, has a stated goal of winning a World Series as soon as possible. To that end, he has no appetite to stop spending until he achieves it.
With the Mets, Soto figures to play right field, pushing Tyrone Taylor to center, with Brandon Nimmo in left. Soto can also slot in the top third of the Mets¡¯ lineup along with shortstop Francisco Lindor and Nimmo.
It remains to be seen if the Mets will now look to bring back Pete Alonso in free agency. Their primary roster concern is in the rotation, where the Mets must add to a mix currently led by Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Frankie Montas.
What this means for the Yankees
via Yankees beat reporter Bryan Hoch
Had Soto agreed to stay, he and Aaron Judge could have continued to serve as one of the league¡¯s most dynamic one-two punches near the top of the order. Instead, now fitted for orange and blue, Soto becomes the most high-profile star for a Mets team that finished two wins shy of reaching the World Series.
The Yankees were prepared to play in deeper financial waters than ever before, hoping to continue the relationship that helped take their club to its first World Series in 15 years. Yet as days turned into weeks, and with several clubs showing significant interest in Soto, the Yankees recognized that they could not be caught flat-footed.
Quietly, members of the front office began crafting a Plan B and exploring alternative options, such as hosting virtual calls with free-agent pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried. Both hurlers now could shift to the top of their wish list, along with the rest of a free-agent class that could include first basemen Alonso or Christian Walker, outfielders Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez or Anthony Santander, closer Tanner Scott, or a potential trade for the Cubs¡¯ Cody Bellinger.
At minimum, the Yanks¡¯ shopping list includes a first baseman, another infielder (potentially a second baseman, unless Jazz Chisholm Jr. moves there), two outfielders, rotation help and relief arms.
Hot Stove implications
via senior national reported Mark Feinsand
Soto¡¯s monster deal will certainly have ripple effects on the rest of the free-agent market, and not just when it comes to outfielders.
How will the Yankees respond after losing their superstar slugger? Their needs include a starting pitcher (Fried? Burnes?), a third baseman (Nolan Arenado? Alex Bregman?) and a relief pitcher (Scott?), not to mention a replacement for Soto in right field (Hern¨¢ndez?). GM Brian Cashman has a lot more payroll flexibility after losing Soto, who would have taken up nearly $50 million per year in payroll had he returned.
Hern¨¢ndez and Santander figure to be popular names on the rumor mill this week, as the runners-up look to pivot to Plan B. In addition to the Yankees, the Red Sox and Blue Jays are said to be interested in one or both of the outfielders, so look for their markets to heat up.
After locking down the biggest deal in baseball history for Soto, agent Scott Boras will now turn his attention to his other big-name free-agent clients including Burnes, Bregman, Alonso and Sean Manaea, all of whom might represent options for the clubs that missed out on Soto.
Diving deep
via analyst Mike Petriello
Let¡¯s set aside the money for a minute ¨C so, so much money, though also only about 4.2 times what Willy Adames just got, which makes it seem like not quite as much at all ¨C and focus on the player. The Mets just hired an all-but-certain Hall of Famer. He¡¯s nearly guaranteed to hit 500 homers. No one in history has ever drawn more walks through their age-25 season, making Soto a borderline-unprecedented youth/speed/patience combo, and that¡¯s not hyperbole; his era-adjusted OBP, through 25, is tied for third-best -- behind Ted Williams and Frank Thomas.
That there are hardly enough words to capture the level of hitting dominance we¡¯re seeing here is the point. How about: a 99th-percentile hard hit rate, a 98th-percentile chase rate, and 94th-percentile bat speed? What, at a certain point, else is there? ¡°He is an upgrade on Starling Marte¡± seems woefully inadequate; this is a generationally great hitter who is still younger than JJ Bleday and 2024 rookie Tyler Fitzgerald.
You¡¯ll hear that Soto is not a strong defender -- surprising 2024 Gold Glove nomination aside -- and that¡¯s mostly true, as his minus-5 outs above average will tell you. But he¡¯s hardly Schwarber-esque in the outfield, and you can live with subpar-but-adequate defense for the next five years until the inevitable move to first base or DH arrives. It¡¯s not, after all, like anyone ever wrote sonnets about how Williams fielded. When you¡¯re on track to be something like one of the 10 best hitters who ever lived, complaining about defense seems to entirely miss the point. The Mets just got about seven wins better with this move alone.
Stat to know
Via MLB.com research staff
160: That is Soto's career OPS+. That ranks eighth in MLB history among players through their age-25 season (minimum 3,000 PA). The seven names in front of Soto are either inducted in Cooperstown or on their way toward future enshrinement: Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Jimmie Foxx, Albert Pujols, Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby.