Arguably and probably the biggest off season news will come from where Juan Soto decides to sign in free agency.
Soto spent the 2024 season with the New York Yankees where he smashed 41 home runs, with 166 hits, 109 RBI’s, with a batting average of .288, an On-base percentage (OBP) of .419 and an On-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .988. Soto was a major reason, next to Aaron Judge, as to why the Yankees won the American League East title and made the World Series where they lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Yankees made Juan Soto a qualifying offer, however, the superstar declined this officially on Nov. 19. and was never really going to accept this as he is currently being looked at by several different teams. Soto will also be due a major payday and this qualifying offer would have offered a pay cut to the Dominican from 2024.
Soto has been one of the best players in the game since his debut back in 2018 for the Washington Nationals where he slashed .292 with 121 hits, 22 home runs, 70 RBI’s to finish second behind Ronald Acuña Jr in the 2018 Rookie of the Year voting. Across his career, Soto averages .285 with an OBP of .421 and a slugging percentage (SLG) of .532 for an OPS of .953. Soto’s WAR for 2024 was also 7.9 for the Yankees and was 5.6 in 2023.
Services for Juan Soto are possibly one of the most sought after in recent MLB off season history alongside perhaps Shohei Ohtani of last year and there are plenty of teams in the mix. While pretty much every team in MLB will want him there are probably only a handful that can actually afford to pay the slugger what he wants and is worth.
Soto may still resign with the Yankees but they will have to empty their pockets if they want to lock him down. He seemed to enjoy his time in New York this season very nearly helping them to their first World Series Championship since 2009, however, there are plenty of other teams in the mix, here are some of the main contenders…
New York Yankees: Let’s start with the obvious. Soto played for the Yankees in 2024 and Brian Cashman may bite the bullet and reach into his deep pockets to try and lock Soto down for a good few years. Let’s not forget that two seasons ago the Yankees failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season and Soto was a major factor in their turnaround. They are at least in with a shout for the superstar.
New York Mets: The Mets are also one of the favorite’s to ink Soto’s signature to a contract primarily because of owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to basically pay whatever Soto asks for. While there will be other factors that Soto takes into account, the fact the Mets will probably outbid most if not all other teams speaks volumes to their chances of landing Soto.
Toronto Blue Jays: This is a bit of a curveball in terms of where Soto may end up. The Blue Jays sucked in 2024 finishing bottom in the American League East with a 74-88 record. Additionally, president Mark Shapiro is in the final year of his contract and stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are in their final year before free agency. Soto may seem a far fetched dream for the Blue Jays, however, if they are willing to pay him they have at least a fighters chance.
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox themselves are coming off a pretty disappointing season. While they started 2024 well, they fell off quite a bit towards the end of the season but have a promising enough young core and current team to be competitive in 2025. Add Juan Soto to this mix and they suddenly become contenders for at least the AL East division and probably the AL pennant. While the Red Sox certainly don’t often reach into their pockets, Soto is one of those players that does not come around too often in free agency so they could well make an exception.
Other teams in the mix: Dodgers, Cubs, Giants amongst others
It looks as though later this week teams will start to make serious, official offers for Juan Soto so this should be a telling week on where the slugger will play 2025 and potentially a good few years of his career from now.
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