Juan Soto apparently infamously declined a $440 million contract from the Washington Nationals. The 25-year-old outfielder is receiving $31 million in his final season of arbitration and is poised to enter free agency following the season.
And just how much money might Soto get? Possibly more than $500 million.
Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic wrote an article about Soto, which was published on Wednesday. The article focused on Soto’s career and contract predicament.
Ghiroli reported in her story that many people in the industry believe the bidding for Soto will start at $500 million. One person was quoted in the story as saying they believe Soto will want the type of money Shohei Ohtani received, minus the deferrals.
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that contained a tremendous amount of deferrals. So much money was deferred by Ohtani that the present-day value of his contract was calculated at $460 million, giving him an average annual value of $46 million. That average annual value may be what Soto is looking to top.
Soto is on his third team already despite not yet hitting free agency. The Padres acquired him in a 2022 trade deadline deal as they pushed to make a deep postseason run. After having a disappointing 2023 season, the Padres dealt Soto to the Yankees. New York acquired Soto despite knowing he had plans to test free agency after the season.
Soto is off to a promising start with the Yankees. He’s batting.345, and the squad is 6-1 after seven games.
Soto made his MLB debut in 2018 with the Washington Nationals. He won the 2019 World Series with the team and has four top-10 National League MVP finishes.
