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The Juan Soto sweepstakes is over. Even though he is staying in New York, he is moving from the Bronx to Queens after signing a 15-year contract with the New York Mets on Sunday night.
Soto’s new deal is reportedly worth $765M, contains no deferred money and has escalators in the deal that could take it above $800M.
It is the largest contract ever signed in professional sports history.
The Mets were long thought to be the Yankees’ biggest competitor for Soto when it came to his free agency, specifically due to the fact Mets owner Steve Cohen is not afraid to outspend anybody on a player that he wants.
He clearly wanted Soto and was going to do whatever it took to make sure he got him.
What makes Soto so appealing as a player is that he is not only one of the best hitters in baseball right now, but he is also still only 26 years old and should still very much be in the prime of his career with several elite years still ahead of him.
He has also been a difference-maker for every team he has played for in MLB.
He helped lead the Washington Nationals to a World Series championship in 2019, helped lead the San Diego Padres to an NLCS in 2022 and was the addition the Yankees needed to get back to the World Series in 2024.
Soto hit .288 with a .989 OPS during the 2024 regular season, hitting 41 home runs to go with 109 RBI. He also had a .419 on-base percentage.
He was in the top four of home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS across all of Major League Baseball.
It is a franchise-altering move for the Mets, who were already an NLCS team in 2024. The World Series will not be the expectation in 2025, and with Soto in the middle of their lineup along with Francisco Lindor that will be a realistic goal.
The Yankees now have to figure out how to not only fill a massive opening in their lineup, they have to show their fans they are still committed to winning by making their own big splash this offseason.
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