Will Juan Soto be a Met in 2025?

As soon as the Mets 2024 season ended, there was going to be one and only one question on everyone's minds. Will Juan Soto be lining up in Right Field in the orange and blue next year, and how far are the Mets (more specifically Steve Cohen) willing to go to pry him away from the Bronx?

Image: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

For me, judging from everything that's been reported so far (as well as my gut feel), there's a pretty good chance Soto will be a Met next year and beyond. It is well known that Steve Cohen is not only the richest owner in all of baseball, but by a healthy distance too. It has been well reported that Cohen and the Mets will not be outbid in the Juan Soto stakes in under pretty much any circumstance. Long story short, if he decides not to come to the Mets, it's unlikely that the money will be the reason.

Let's start with the specifics of the contract Soto will likely be seeking. It's been reported that the Dominican RF is hellbent on earning the most lucrative contract in MLB history. That title currently belongs to, yeh you guessed it - Shohei Ohtani. The 10 year, $700m deal ($70 million AAV) he signed with the Dodgers last year broke all kinds of records, while simultaneously raising the market for future contracts.

Soto wants to exceed the $700 million that Ohtani got. The kicker will be that with Soto only being 26 (Ohtani was 29 when signing last year), the deal Soto gets will likely be longer than 10 years, maybe even 12 or 13. My guess is it could end up being about 12 years and $720 million ($60 million AAV). Which team would be willing to fork out that kind of money?

Other than the Mets, there's no doubt the Yankees will offer Soto a huge contract, with the Dodgers potentially being in play as well. Other big market teams that would possibly entertain the idea of Soto could be the Phillies, the Giants and maybe even the team that made him a World Series champion, the Washington Nationals. 

However, it has also been reported that Soto would prefer to stay on the East coast. If this is to be believed, this would rule out both the Dodgers and the Giants. While the Nationals would entertain the idea for a second, it's not really viable for them either. 

The Phillies have three of Soto's former Nats' teammates - Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber, which would entice him just a little bit at least. The only problem here is that both Harper and Turner are on expensive long term contracts. This makes it next to impossible to pay another guy almost double what those two are on.

This leaves both the Yankees and the Mets as the two firming favourites to sign Soto. I've already mentioned the money the Mets have behind them, so what do the Yankees bring to the table that the Mets might not?

Starting with the obvious, Soto knows what it's like to be a Yankee now. Even as a Mets fan it is impossible to ignore the mystique of the Yankees, and Soto now may have the opportunity to sign a "Yankee for life" contract that gets him into Monument Park. Regardless of the money the Mets throw at him, they will never be able to offer that. However that's the past Yankees.

Both New York clubs have rosters that look like contending for a few years to come, and with the way the Yankees literally fumbled and threw away the World Series, will that hinder their efforts to keep Juan Soto? Only time will tell.

As I said previously, if Soto goes to the highest bidder, I am extremely confident he will be in Right Field for the Mets on Opening Day next year.

LGM,

Oscar