Juan Soto is the most coveted free agent in this year’s class, but don’t be surprised if he takes his time settling on a new home.
It’s not uncommon for Scott Boras clients to go through long free agency periods. Just last winter, four of the agent’s top clients — Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery — signed well after teams reported to spring training in mid-February. Only Bellinger signed before March, and Montgomery didn’t officially sign with the Diamondbacks until after Opening Day.
Boras caught some heat for how those free agencies played out — Montgomery fired and later criticized the agent — but he’s also had players linger on the open market before signing lucrative, well-appreciated contracts.
In February, 2019, the Padres signed Manny Machado to a 10-year, $300 million free agent deal, the largest in North American sports history at the time. A few weeks later, in early March, Bryce Harper eclipsed that total when he inked a 13-year, $330 million pact with the Phillies.
Both players were 26 years old at the time. Soto, in search of an even bigger payday after a monstrous season with the Yankees, just turned 26.
Following the conclusion of the World Series, he said that he’s not necessarily opposed to a prolonged free agency.
“It’s all about the teams and how far they want to take it,” Soto said when asked if he’d like to sign sooner than some of Boras’ recent clients. “And how much they want to go back and forth. I feel like that’s one of the biggest things, because I’m here. They are the ones who have to come over to me. We’re going to be waiting till somebody comes over.
“I got to wait for them to come over. I can’t be reaching them. They know where I’m at.”
It remains to be seen how drawn-out Soto’s free agency will be, but some of baseball’s highest rollers are already in pursuit of the slugger.
That includes the Yankees after owner Hal Steinbrenner got an up-close look at Soto in 2024. On Tuesday, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters at the GM Meetings that he already talked to Boras about Soto and other clients on Monday.
“We are more than willing to meet as many times as he would like to meet,” Cashman said, per SNY, when asked if he anticipated multiple pitch meetings with a player who has already spent time with the Yankees. “But I think Scott Boras was going to talk to Juan and get a feel for whether it was necessary for us to have as many times in person with him as other clubs because he knows us.”
The Mets, funded by Steve Cohen, present an alternative option if Soto wants to stay in New York but change colors. The Phillies, Blue Jays and Dodgers — who just beat the Yankees in the World Series — have also been linked to the generational superstar.
So have the Nationals, Soto’s original team, among others.
“They want to win,” Cashman said of the Mets. “They’re in a large market with us. They had a taste of success this year, and they want to move the needle even more forward.”
With figures in the neighborhood of $500 million and $600 million being thrown around, Soto declined to promise any preferential treatment when asked if the Yankees would get the final opportunity to match any offers he receives.
He also downplayed the perception that he wants to stay in New York City after enjoying this past season in the Bronx. Instead, he said that he’ll be available to “all 30 teams.”
“I’m really happy with the city, with the team, how these guys do,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, we will see. We are going to look at every situation, every offer that we get and make a decision from there.”
While there are certainly some non-contenders and small-market teams that won’t compete for Soto, Cashman knew that the Yankees’ union with the four-time All-Star could be short-lived when the GM acquired the player from the Padres last December.
With that in mind, Cashman plans on trying to keep Soto, but he’s also prepared for alternative scenarios.
“We certainly have an interest in retaining him, and we’ll put our best foot forward there,” Cashman said. “That’ll either lead to us retaining him and signing him back, or we’ll be forced to go in a different direction if we can’t. And if we can’t, there’s a lot of different players in this marketplace that can positively impact this roster in different ways.”
