Juan Soto has won the hearts of the New York Yankees and its fans all over the world. It has been only a little more than a couple of months in the regular season. However, the impact of the Dominican superstar on the NY side has been immense already. He has bolstered the offense of the Bronx Bombers, who struggled really hard last year. In 2023, the NY side had the second-worst batting average in the league behind the nine-time World Series champions, the Oakland Athletics. But this year, they have one of the best hitting averages in the league. The credit for that must go to the Judge-Soto duo. Aaron Judge had a very slow start to the ongoing season.
But then he turned things around last month. He managed to get back on the top of the list of most home runs so far. Clearly, the addition of Juan Soto has helped Judge and the whole team to gain extra motivation to dominate the league. However, the issue that the Yankees have to deal with is his free agency. They signed Soto for a year. After this season, he’ll be a free agent. Not just any agent but the biggest name in the next free agency. How much can the Bombers offer the lefty superstar to keep him for the long term?
Yankees Might Be Looking At A $600M Contract For Juan Soto
It is weird that MLB is seeing the third straight free agency where the biggest name gets more than a $350 million contract. More specifically, it has been a “Free agent frenzy for elite hitters” in the last three offseasons. It started with Aaron Judge in 2022. The Yankees captain broke the regular season home run record and won the AL MVP that year. Later, Shohei Ohtani broke all records in free agency as he signed a record-breaking $700 million contract over 10 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This year, it will be Juan Soto. He is already a top favourite for winning the Most Valued Player in the American League this season.
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On top of that, he is still just 25 years old. Hence, whichever team will sign him will look to keep him for the long term. Now, Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, hinted that he should sign a contract of more than $500 million. After all, Boras calls Soto a “Centurion” whom any team will be lucky to have. Can the Yankees be the lucky one? Juan Soto has increased their chances of winning the World Series this year. If they do win eventually, then the NY side might go all-in for the Dominican superstar. Recently, ESPN made new projections, which saw some of the 28 MLB insiders think that Soto would sign a 12-14-year deal worth $600 million or even beyond. Can the Yankees go that far to keep him with their own payroll issues?
The Dominican Superstar Is On The Verge Of Winning MVP
There have been a lot of talks about what kind of figure Scott Boras is looking for, one of his biggest clients, who he calls a “Centurion.” It might be with the Yankees or the city rivals, the New York Mets, or other franchises, where the best hitter in baseball might sign. In 2024, Juan Soto is enjoying one of the best seasons in his career. He has been maintaining a slash line of .318/.425/.599.
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Moreover, he has hit 17 home runs, got three triples, 11 doubles, and batted in 53 runs. Clearly, any team would benefit from someone like Soto in their offence with such staggering numbers. No wonder he is the favourite to win AL MVP this year. His teammate and partner in baseball crime, Aaron Judge, is a close second.
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