Free-agent superstar Juan Soto, the best player available this offseason, will return to the National League East.
Soto will sign with the New York Mets, according to the New York Post‘s Jon Heyman on Sunday night. He’ll sign for a major-league record 15 years and $765 million, surpassing the 10-year, $700 million contract that Shohei Ohtani inked with the Dodgers last offseason. Unlike Ohtani’s deal, Soto’s contract does not include deferred money, per ESPN‘s Jeff Passan.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Soto has an opt-out following his fifth season with the Mets.
Soto is a generational hitter with a career .953 OPS and 201 home runs in seven seasons. He’s a four-time All-Star, a five-time Silver Slugger and the 2020 NL batting champion. He’s remarkably accomplished for a player of any age — let alone for a 26-year-old. He and agent Scott Boras took full advantage of hitting the market as he enters what many would consider his prime years.
Soto made his big-league debut in 2018 with the Nationals as a 19-year-old phenom then helped lead Washington to a World Series championship the next season in 2019. He hit five home runs with a .927 OPS as the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in seven games.
Washington traded Soto to the San Diego Padres during the 2022 season. He was traded again to the New York Yankees prior to this past season. Soto hit 41 home runs with a .989 OPS and made a World Series appearance in his lone year with the Yankees.
Staying in New York but heading over to Queens, Soto will join a Mets team that defeated the Phillies in the NL Division Series this past season. The Phillies will see plenty of the left-handed slugger in their divisional matchups for the foreseeable future.
