SEATTLE — Juan Soto's monumental home run had a real ring to it.
Soto finished with a home run in all 30 ballparks in the Yankees' win over the Mariners on Tuesday night, providing a reminder of what's to come in the offseason.
“There are so many different ballparks, so many different dimensions,” Soto said. “I just want to check them all out. [off].
“What a great way to hit a home run at all 30 stadiums and then check off that list and become a free agent.”
The Yankees are hoping Soto will continue to perform well in uniform, even though he's only guaranteed to play in the remaining 11 regular season games and the rest of October.
Then, despite manager Hal Steinbrenner saying in May that he was open to trying to sign the superstar to a contract extension (something that seemed unlikely), Soto is set to hit the free agent market, with a price tag expected to soar to more than $500 million.
The 25-year-old's two-run homer off Brian Woo was his 40th of the season (tying his career high) and 200th of his career.
But it was his third achievement – hitting home runs in 30 stadiums – that Soto pointed out as being the most meaningful to him.
His ubiquity will undoubtedly be one of the many selling points for Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, this offseason.
“This is one of the goals I really wanted to achieve. [thought] “It's the biggest thing of my career,” said Soto, who had a goal in spring training to hit a home run at all 30 stadiums (with five remaining before this season). “Coming into this year, I was like, 'This is a really good opportunity,' so when I hit that home run, I was like, 'Wow, I finally hit my last home run.'”
The Yankees seem impressed with Soto, especially as he enjoys the luxury of batting in front of Aaron Judge, but ultimately, money will be king.
Meanwhile, Soto made more history on Tuesday with Judge, who, with 53 career home runs, became just the third Yankees teammates to hit 40 home runs in the same season, joining Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (1961) and Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930, 1931).
“Ever since I got here in spring training, that's been my goal, to put my name in history and be a part of it,” Soto said. “Now, to be up there and be with those guys, it's just an awesome experience. It's a really cool feeling.”
Soto reached 200 home runs in his 926th game and 3,247th at-bat.
Other players to reach the milestone have done so in fewer games and at-bats, but Soto (25 years, 328 days) came close to becoming the youngest player ever to do so – the previous record was held by Mel Ott, who hit his 200th hit at 25 years, 144 days old.
“That's pretty impressive,” Judge said. “40 home runs, 200th home run, hitting in every ballpark. That's a tough thing to do when he's just starting to get into the game. But he's had a great career, a great year and we can definitely expect more of that for the rest of the year and beyond.”
It remains to be seen whether Judge will have a front-row seat to games in the afterlife, but for now the Yankees are just enjoying Soto's presence and trying to use it to their advantage in their quest to win a division title or whatever.
“The thought always is, 'This guy's only 25. He might just be scratching the surface of his talent,'” manager Aaron Boone said. “In a lot of ways, he's not necessarily in his prime. He's probably in that phase right now. I think we'll all agree he's a really special hitter.”
