Christmas came early for Mets fans this year when owner Steve Cohen did his duty to the community, and inked 26-year-old Dominican Outfielder Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million dollar contract. This contract is the largest dollarwise in sports history and is the longest in baseball history. The contract beats out fellow baseball player Shohei Ohtani, who inked a 10 year, $700 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December. The big difference between the two contracts is that Juan Soto is getting paid $51 million a year whereas Shohei Ohtani is paid only $2 million a year during the ten years of the contract but in the following ten years he will be paid $68 million a year. The contract also includes an opt-out after the 2029 season, in which the Mets can buy out for $40 million, making his contract worth over $800 million.
Soto is a 4x All-Star and a 5x silver slugger (best hitter at his position) and in addition to this he finished in the top 10 in MVP voting five times and top 5 three times. He was a major cornerstone to the Washington Nationals 2019 World Series Championship, the first in the franchise’s history, and the difference maker for the New York Yankees 2024 AL Pennant, the first in 15 years. He won the 2022 Home Run Derby, beating Jose Ramierez, Albert Pujols, and rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez to ruin the chances of Pete Alonso’s three-peat.
After the New York Yankees lost the 2024 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games a reporter confronted Juan Soto about his upcoming free agency. Before the other Yankees even processed defeat or the Dodgers started celebrating Soto said, “every team has an equal chance of signing me,” he meant that he would go to the highest bidder and the Yankees had no hometown discount. This comes after an allegation that a Yankees security guard did not let in his father to a game and the Yankees refusing to pay for a suite for his family to stay in while they were in New York, meanwhile the Mets would be paying for a suite. He furthermore showed that there was no hometown discount in his bidding as the Yankees final offer to him was a 16 year, $660 million dollar deal. This deal was only $5 million dollars less and one year longer ($3.5 million less per year). Soto also received offers from the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers.