Juan Soto Rumors: Yankees Desire for Contract ‘Is Most Acute’ amid Mets, Red Sox Buzz

Adam WellsNovember 22, 2024

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

As many of MLB’s powerhouse teams have entered the fray for Juan Soto, the New York Yankees are putting their best foot forward to retain the four-time All-Star.

Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Yankees’ “desire” in bringing back Soto “is most acute” as he has also met with the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

The Yankees had their first in-person meeting with Soto this week. Owner Hal Steinbrenner described it as a “good” meeting, but he declined to provide specifics about their discussion other than to say it’s a “priority” to keep him on the roster.

It’s unclear how many more teams Soto and his representatives plan to speak with before the winter meetings begin in Dallas on Dec. 8. The Los Angeles Dodgers had a meeting scheduled with Soto on Tuesday, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. It has yet to be confirmed if it took place.

The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to meet with him at some point, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Passan noted Soto is the “foremost priority” for the Yankees because they saw the difference he made to their lineup last season and “the prospect of losing that” combined with the “fallout” from potentially being outbid by another team to keep him would be borderline catastrophic for the franchise.

This isn’t to suggest it will be easy to keep Soto. There is some thought that Mets owner Steve Cohen will offer him the largest contract of any team in the market.

Jonny’s Lasagna ⚾️ @JLasagna43Kay says Cohen is wiling to go $50 million over whatever anyone else offers Juan Soto, and he doesn’t think the Yanks will be near the $660 million for 15 years that Carlos Baerga said was on the table pic.twitter.com/QjedLqfgWb

Contract projections for Soto are generally in the range of 13 years and $600 million. Such a deal would make the 26-year-old the second-highest-paid player in MLB by total salary and average annual salary, behind the 10-year, $700 million contract Shohei Ohtani got from the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Since Ohtani’s contract contains so much deferred money, the net present-day value of his deal is right around $460 million over 10 years ($46 million annually).

A 13-year, $600 million contract for Soto with no deferred money would make him the highest-paid player in MLB with a $46.2 million average annual salary.

Soto’s first season with the Yankees couldn’t have gone any better. He finished third in AL MVP voting after hitting .288/.419/.569 with a career-high 41 homers to help the Bronx Bombers reach the World Series for the first time since 2009.