Going into the 2024 MLB offseason, Juan Soto was the biggest name in free agency. Coming off an electric year with the Yankees, leading them to the World Series, he was a target of many teams. Soto’s agent revealed he will sign with a team during MLB’s winter meetings in December.
The media spoke about three potential landing spots for Juan Soto: the Mets, Red Sox, and Yankees. His future team remained a mystery for a long time. This left fans on the edge of their seats.
On December 11th, Juan Soto signed the biggest contract in sports history: 765 million dollars for 15 years to the New York Mets. The Mets had won the race for Soto and they were ecstatic.
“I was very excited when the Mets signed Soto,” Mets fan Will Black stated. “This is the single greatest free agent signing the organization has ever made.”
The question that seems to arise as this deal was made is whether Soto is worth the $765 million. “I do think that they [the Mets] completely overpaid for him,” Red Sox fan Nate Stern said. “He provides nothing on defense and, if anything, makes your outfield worse.”
Juan Soto’s defense was subpar last year, misreading many balls out in Right Field. This leads fans to believe he is not worth the money.
Although losing Soto was a big blow to the Yankees lineup, fans might still have optimism for the upcoming season. “At first I was mad that Soto did sign with the Mets,” Yankees fan Sam Reich stated. “But after thinking it should work out. The Yankees now have lots of more money to spend to upgrade the team.”
“In terms of the number on his contract, it doesn’t matter due to Steve Cohen’s massive net worth,” Black said. Steve Cohen, the Mets owner, has the highest net worth in Major League Baseball. With a whopping 23.1 billion dollars to Cohen’s name, Juan Soto was a small purchase for him.
“I am happy that the Yankees did not spend all this money on him just so he can perform for barely more than half of his contract [15 years],” Yankees fan Graham Carovillano said. “They definitely overpaid him and they can have him.”
