Until Juan Soto makes his free agency decision, many of MLB's biggest front offices have $700 million in budgets, and their 2025 salaries will only be a fraction of that amount. Soto knows that. His agent, Scott Boras, knows this.
The generational outfielder remains a coveted gem in free agency — the aura of his 2019 World Series ring and the grit of his previous extra innings meant that if it wasn't Aaron Judge in the Bronx, he'd be the MVP in 2024. A focus on what's to come for the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Giants, and the proverbial “mystery” teams that have only been heightened by the 2018 season.
But with meetings already scheduled with the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox and highly motivated Blue Jays, there is urgency in the Soto sweepstakes. Just as Shohei Ohtani did, albeit more secretly, before signing a blockbuster 10-year, $700 million contract last December. As Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg did in 2019, Corey Seager did in 2021, and Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts and Aaron Judge did in 2022, these pursuits, no matter how simple they seem, Even though I could see it, it was over before the calendar changed to the next year. It gave other teams time to pivot if they didn't win.
However, that doesn't always happen in MLB free agency. Unlike the NFL or NBA, where the first day of a frenzied signing period is a meaningful calendar day, baseball's offseason drags on until spring training approaches and some of the cycle's biggest names remain unsigned. Possibly. It's a buzzkill. Turn the knob on the hot stove to the lowest possible setting.
