The Decision (2024) has been made. The Mets and generational talent Juan Soto agreed to a 15-year, $765 million contract late Sunday evening, sending shockwaves throughout the league and sports community. The contract, with a $75 million signing bonus, is the richest contract ever handed out in professional sports history. The New York Mets not only elevated their status heading into 2025 and beyond with the signing as contenders every year but changed the game forever for players.
Here is how the MMO staff reacted to the historic deal.
Franchise-altering, history-making deal. The Mets, with a core of Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, should be seen as playoff and championship contenders every year for the next decade. 2024 was fun because expectations were low. 2025 and beyond will be fun because there’s a clear path to high expectations and meeting them. All because they signed the guy who will probably seen as a Top 3 hitter EVER. And he’ll be wearing a Mets hat in the Hall of Fame. Right alongside the greatest shortstop of his generation.
Boy, how far the Mets have come. It was only five years ago that Brodie Van Wagenen was trying to hype up the Hector Santiago addition. Now, they’ve given out the largest deal in the history of professional sports to a bonafide superstar. The craziest thing that sticks out to me is that Soto — who was developed by the Nationals and won a World Series with them, played for the Padres and won a pennant with the Yankees — will be remembered mostly as a Met by the time all is said and done. It’s hard to wrap my head around a 15-year contract, in which I’ll go from 23 to 38 years old. Soto, who’s already had seven fantastic years in the major leagues, is set to have a decade and a half of baseball in orange and blue. Soto, who’s spent most of his career thus far on rivals of the Mets, will likely go down as one of the greatest Mets of all time, with a legitimate chance to be known as THE greatest Met of all time. He’ll go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Mets hat, with his stint on the Yankees basically an afterthought at that point. We’ll be able to tell our kids and grandkids a fun, obscure trivia fact: “Did you know Juan Soto played for the Yankees at one point?” And they’ll laugh at us in disbelief. That’s pretty cool that the Mets get to say that. I’ve been a fan of Soto for his entire career, but he’s always been on teams I dislike. Now, we all get to enjoy watching an all-time great hitter play for the Mets in the prime of his career. He’s still only 26, which for a lot of players is an age when their MLB career is only just getting going. Soto is an established star and should be for many more years to come, with an offensive profile fueled by elite plate discipline and natural power that should age well. Bring on the Soto era in Queens.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
I’m still kind of in shock that this is real. It might take until I hear his name announced through the PA system for the first time for it to really set in. Juan Soto is a New York Met, in the same lineup as Francisco Lindor. Gone are the days of shying away from the big stars and being the Yankees’ little brother. This signing sends a message to New York to the whole league – the Mets are here to play and won’t be going away anytime soon. Opening Day can’t come soon enough.
I think I need to buy more cookies when free agents are available for the Mets because good things always happen when I’m out! A franchise altering, vibe changing, earth shattering moment, not only for the Mets but for New York baseball as a whole. This signals a seismic change in the landscape and that the Mets mean business. Signing Juan Soto to the biggest contract ever in sports means that the Mets are serious and want a taste of the title now! I’m still in shock, I don’t feel like this is real.. For years, we were always the little brother who got picked on, hiding under the shadow that is the Yankees. We were always spurned for another team or slapped in the face harder when said players would go to the Bronx. Not today. It’s nice to finally see the Mets land the big fish and cement themselves as serious contenders. Soto is a dynamic bat with a presence that we don’t see very often. I saw a fellow contributor mention that he’s a combo of John Olerud‘s on base prowess and Mike Piazza‘s power. That is probably the best summation of Soto I’ve seen, in Mets terms. The Mets mean business. Signing Juan Soto signals that and I couldn’t be happier to be apart of the ride! All those years of misery might be paying off soon!
Juan Soto is a Met. There is disbelief, joy, shock, amusement and happiness typing those words. Do I think it’s starting to get out of hand with the amount of money these guys are netting? Of course, but I’m not afraid to admit I’m desperate to see the Mets win a World Series. Cohen paid the price of what will bring the Mets closer to that goal.
It’s a whirlwind change of pace from where the team was just six years ago, where signings like Rick Porcello or even Marlon Byrd were considered eye-popping. And that’s no disrespect to those guys. I loved watching Marlon Byrd play in 2013 and 2020 was just a weird year for all, Porcello included. But it’s more of a knock on previous ownership — remember when they said they didn’t know of teams who could carry two $30 million players? Well, the game has changed and Steve Cohen has ushered in a new era of baseball.
It’s refreshing to see a new type of baseball. It’s what appealed to Soto, Lindor and others who come to the Mets now. Cohen is building a community within the Mets organization — he’s building a family. And that family extends from the clubhouse to the fans to the community. And it’s felt.
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
It feels surreal. Like seeing Charlie Brown kick the football. To steal a player from the Yankees right after he led them to the World Series? I did not think that was a thing that was allowed. (Are we sure it’s allowed? Rob Manfred isn’t going to nullify anything, right?) I’m thankful for Steve Cohen. If he wants to keep it up, I will try my best to get used to it.
The Metropolitans were the butt of a joke on Saturday Night Live last week, but who’s laughing now?
Juan Soto represents a generational shift – not only the Mets are portrayed as a baseball team, but as a franchise. This is a future-altering move that primes the Mets to represent the city of New York in a way that the Yankees haven’t been able to capitalize upon. From any viewpoint, this grants the Mets the right to start to wrestle the mantle of “New York’s” team away from their Bronx counterparts.
I’m excited for the next decade and a half.
Juan Soto is… a NEW YORK MET! I still cannot believe that is a real sentence. Wow. Wow. Wow. What a time to be a Mets fan. Never could I imagine a world where a player of Soto’s caliber would sign for the Mets as a free agent. What a time to be alive!
Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor at the top of order. I am so excited to see that for years to come. Steve Cohen, thank you for bringing so much happiness to this fanbase. The job is far from over but wow, we are so excited for what is to come. Let’s go Mets!
This is a seismic, landscape-altering, franchise-defining, history-making deal in every single way.
The Mets were the laughing stock of the sports world for what seemed like eons before Steve Cohen bought the team, and they’ve been the annoying little cousin to the Yankees forever, forget about little brother. They have been the little cousin that nobody pays any attention to. No more. With the signing of Juan Soto, the Mets are relevant again and they’ve made a gargantuan statement by outbidding the evil empire of the Yankees for a marquee free agent.
Soto’s signing could also help to attract other big name free agents to Queens in the future. Of course, there is no denying that the Mets still have lots of holes on this roster. As currently constituted, the starting rotation scares me, as does the lineup depth. If Pete Alonso doesn’t return, that lineup may need another big bat in order to give Soto some lineup protection. However, with all that said, the Mets needed a bona fide superstar and they have just that in Soto, who is one of the best and purest hitters the game has ever seen. Soto choosing the Mets over everybody else really does change everything for this franchise.
The Mets are the premier destination now, and a World Series is no longer a distant pipedream
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