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The New York Mets officially won the Juan Soto sweepstakes, as the 26-year-old perennial All-Star outfielder signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the team. Soto’s contract is the largest deal in professional sports history.
The road to landing Juan Soto was a long one, as his free agency tour and subsequent consideration stretched weeks, with the Mets, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees emerging as the favorites. Soto played with the Yankees last season and help the team win the American League pennant.
After the news of Soto signing with the Mets broke, SNY‘s Andy Martino reported that as of Sunday afternoon, the Mets were “dead in the water” in the Soto sweepstakes and the Yankees were the favorite. The Mets and owner Steve Cohen were able to flip the momentum in a matter of a couple of hours, however.
“The Mets were dead in the water on this at about 3 p.m. today. This was going nowhere. Momentum was with the Yankees. And it picked up late and it picked up quick,” Martino reported.
“The Mets were dead in the water on this at about 3 p.m. today. This was going nowhere. Momentum was with the Yankees. And it picked up late and it picked up quick.”
Andy Martino on how the deal came to be on Sunday night. pic.twitter.com/dpBG85EMzD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 9, 2024
According to reports, the Yankees offered Soto one more year (16 years) and $5 million less ($760 million), making his average annual value $47.5 million. His contract with the Mets puts Soto’s AAV at $51 million. Given the RELATIVE (for an uber rich athlete like Soto, not the rest of us) negligible differences in those two numbers, there are potentially other factors that led to Soto choosing the Mets over the Yankees.
Last season with the Yankees, Soto hit .288 on 166 hits with 41 home runs and 109 RBIs. For his career, which began in 2018 with the Washington Nationals, Soto is batting .285 on 934 hits with 201 home runs and 592 RBIs.