Inside The Pinstripes

Juan Soto Has Begun to Receive Offers; What it Means For Yankees

Superstar free-agent outfielder Juan Soto has received offers from five teams, including the Yankees and four of their rivals.

John Sparaco

Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) is introduced before playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) is introduced before playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The Juan Soto sweepstakes are heating up.

On Monday night, Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media first reported that Soto had received offers from five teams: the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The specifics of these offers remain undisclosed.

According to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, the process will unfold over multiple rounds. This initial, preliminary phase is designed to assess the genuine interest of all parties involved, with more serious offers expected in the coming weeks.

Kuty added that each round of offers will become increasingly serious as Soto’s camp narrows down the field of suitors. The next step in this process is expected to start around next week.

While appearing on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show, insider Jon Morosi noted that it is not just the number of teams involved that he finds interesting but also the timing of how relatively early they are in the process.

“We don't believe these are final offers. But at least to know where the initial stakes are is helpful,” Morosi said on Tuesday. “We’re still about a couple weeks away from the winter meetings. That gives Juan Soto, Scott Boras, and these teams plenty of time to work through things and potentially sign even before the Winter Meetings happen.”

Morosi added that when Soto makes his decision, it will create a domino effect for other free agents and teams. He used the Red Sox as an example of a team that, if they miss out on Soto, could pivot to make a splash or two in the free-agent starting pitching market.

As for the Dodgers, Morosi said that because of the amount of deferred money in Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract, they have the capacity to add Soto on another historic deal. However, he appeared to doubt their willingness to go that far after winning the World Series decisively this past season.

“I am of the mind that the team that gets Soto will be the most desperate to get Soto,” Morosi stated. “The Dodgers are not a desperate team.”

The Yankees, however, better fit that description. After trading away five players to acquire Soto last offseason, New York created one of baseball’s most fearsome duos and experienced their most successful season since 2009.

Soto, 26, hit .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI in the regular season, while teammate Aaron Judge posted a .322/.458/.701 line, leading the league with 58 home runs and 144 RBI. Both were named finalists for the MVP award, which Judge won for the second time in his career.

During the postseason, Soto helped propel the Yankees to their first World Series appearance in 15 years, delivering the go-ahead three-run homer in the 10th inning of ALCS Game 5, which clinched the pennant. However, the four-time All-Star and 2019 World Series champion was one of New York’s few offensive bright spots in this year’s Fall Classic, as the Yankees lost four of five games to the Dodgers.

With Judge approaching his mid-30s and Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton already in theirs, the window to win with this group of stars is narrowing. The Yankees are closing in on matching their longest title drought in franchise history, which spanned 18 years between 1978 and 1996. So, the pressure is on to win now.

But the Yankees are not the only team in New York feeling urgency. The Mets have not won a World Series since 1986, and coming off a season in which they exceeded expectations by advancing to the NLCS, it will be especially difficult to outbid Steve Cohen, who is the wealthiest owner in MLB.

If the Yankees lose Soto, it will mark the first time they have let a generational talent walk out the door since Robinson Canó in December 2013. Their “Plan B” that offseason consisted of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltrán, and they finished below the 90-win mark in each of the next three seasons. The Yankees went 82-80 and missed the postseason in 2023 right before adding Soto.

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John Sparaco
JOHN SPARACO

John Sparaco is a contributing writer for the Yankees and Mets websites On SI. He has previously written for Cold Front Report, Times Union and JKR Baseball, where he profiled some of the top recruits, college players and draft prospects in baseball. You can follow him on Twitter/X: @JohnSparaco

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