Please welcome to the stage, the new King of Queens: Juan Soto.
The star outfielder signed a record-setting deal with the New York Mets over the weekend.
To his credit, having spent virtually his entire life under its glare, Juan Soto has never been one to shy away from the spotlight
Just sixteen when he first signed with the Washington Nationals, he has made a career out of making the exceptional seem routine.
Already a multiple-time All-Star and World Series champion with a batting title in his trophy case, Soto is not just the purest hitter baseball has seen since peak Barry Bonds but perhaps one of the greatest to ever step into the box: considered by many to be Ted Williams incarnate, having actively drawn comparisons to the legendary left-fielder for nearly a decade now, since he was hardly out of his teens.
His 2024, to this point, was another exclamation point on a ledger full of them. Pairing with Aaron Judge, together, they established themselves as one of the sport’s most formidable duos for a New York Yankees team which has seen its fair share during their decorated existence. Soto, authoring an age-25 season for the ages, as he led the American League in runs, set a personal-best in homers (41) and finished third in AL MVP voting, while “shuffling” and slugging his way to a .989 OPS.
But in recent years, as he moved from Washington to San Diego and then, to the Bronx, it has become harder and harder to truly pin Soto down.
Traditionally? Players of his age and caliber aren’t taking on mercenary-esque roles on championship contending clubs but Soto, in pursuit of team success and individual security both, when the smoke cleared, found himself exactly where he wanted to be.
A free agent, in complete control of his destiny.
So in the aftermath of the Yankees World Series loss, it has been baseball’s biggest question over the past month. Where would he go?
Well, twenty minutes east, evidentially, as (pending a successful physical) Soto is now a New York Met.
At fifteen years and $765 million dollars, his newest contract is not just the largest in baseball history but believed to be the most expensive in team sports, ever.
And as laid out by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, it is, shock value aside, a deal that is slightly more subtle than meets the eye.
Sporting a full no-trade clause, a $75 million dollar signing bonus (because hey, what’s another $75 million?), no deferred money and a series of specific, opt-out particulars. Soto can opt-out after five seasons but the Mets can void that option post-2029, if they chose, by raising the average value over the contract’s final ten years from $51 million to $55.
Yes, however you slice it, it is an unbelievable amount of money (and probably too much, for any athlete, talent be dammed).
It is too, in banking on the sheer magnitude of his star power, an inherently risky move, even for a player like Soto who has paired on-field accomplishment with impressive durability. In hoping he can carry the history-making aptitude of his 20s into, at least, his mid-to-late 30s (the contract will run until he is 41).
But Soto’s signing, is, for better or worse, totally on brand for this era of Mets baseball, as they look to win their first championship since 1986.
Mets owner Steve Cohen has made no secret of his desire to bring post-season success to Queens, with massive payouts in securing top talent to achieve that goal, a clear priority. Per Bloomberg, including the to-be-played 2025 season, Cohen will have invested $1.6 billion dollars into player salaries since he acquired the team in 2020, while assembling an executive team committed to reaching that shared summit.
It hasn't been without a handful of notable missteps.
From Max Scherzer to Justin Verlander, most prominently, the team paid out nearly $65 million to players who spent 2024 on other teams. They missed the playoffs entirely in 2023, finishing well below .500, their 2024, only saved by a baseball-best record 65-38 post June 2nd. Momentum they parlayed, to great effect, right to the NLCS before being ousted by the eventual World Series champions in Los Angles.
But Soto alone, no matter how many seats he fills, can’t shield the team from bravado masking poor spending nor a skilled but imperfect roster. Their rotation needs work, as does their infield and outfield both, although much of that “what’s next” hinges on the to-be-seen decision surrounding whether or not they bring back long-time franchise stalwart, first baseman Pete Alonso (this, even in the wake of Soto’s signing, not something the team has wholly closed the book on, per Sports Illustrated on Monday night).
Maybe it’ll pay off sooner rather than later, the team, pulling all those disparate pieces together and emerging as true contenders - if only to add a little more colour to the Subway Series, in defiance of their forever-rivals in the Yankees, who they supposedly out-bid for Soto, amongst many others from Toronto, Boston and the Dodgers (the Yankees, offering $760 million over sixteen years).
But those nagging questions of spring, they can wait, at least for a little while, no? True moments of celebration, they are a fleeting thing in pro sports.
And you know Met fans are loving this one.
Loved this piece Ryan. I'm heartbroken of course. Would have loved to have kept Soto as a Yankee, but all for him leaning into the money - that's a lot of pressure.
Thanks for a well written informative article as always Ryan. Wow! What a huge amount of money! Like you say, not sure any athlete is worth that. What a crazy world we live in!