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There’s no white smoke yet for Juan Soto’s free-agent decision, but the closely watched deliberation that will almost certainly make sports history now appears to be approaching an endgame.
Soto’s agent, the powerful Scott Boras, said the star outfielder is now in the midst of trimming his list of potential clubs. There is still no firm timetable for Soto to make a choice, but a deal of some sort is widely expected during or near baseball’s upcoming winter meetings, set for Dec. 9–12 in Dallas.
“He’s begun the process of eliminating teams and doing things,” Boras said following the introductory press conference that the Dodgers held for free-agent acquisition Blake Snell. “Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see.”
All eyes in the sports world have been fixed on Soto for more than a month as he is still expected to sign a pact for more than $600 million, representing at least the second-largest player contract in North American pro sports history, and perhaps beating Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in present-day value depending on the amount of deferrals involved.
Soto is believed to have received at least five contract offers, with the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox, and Yankees reportedly at the top of the list of suitors for the 26-year-old outfielder.
Recent days, however, have shown a wildly divergent mix of supposed leanings of Soto’s sentiment. The Blue Jays—backed by arguably the most powerful ownership group in pro sports and recently boosted by an extended visit from Taylor Swift—have been thought to be unrivaled in their initial offer to Soto.
The Mets, backed by MLB’s richest team owner in Steve Cohen, are still seen as the prohibitive favorite to land Soto, though. The Red Sox, boasting four titles in the team’s current John Henry–led era, have pulled back their spending in recent years, but are also thought to be potentially roaring back to power with a Soto signing.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, boast the league’s most recent World Series title and league-leading attendance, and they have their own penchant for bold, unprecedented free-agent moves. The Yankees were Soto’s last team, a place where he both starred and enjoyed himself, and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner recently said of the chase to retain him, “I’ve got ears. I know what’s expected of me.”
Market Moves
Beyond just Soto, the overall MLB free-agent market this offseason is already starting to develop faster than a year ago, and it could hit a further crescendo at the winter meetings. Boras suggested the heightened activity could owe in part to more clarity existing now with teams’ local media rights. Even as several clubs have taken reduced rights fees for 2025, the recent resolution of Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy gives a greater dose of certainty in this critical revenue stream, at least in the short term.
“This streaming thing that they have going on is very viable, very profitable,” Boras said of MLB clubs. “I don’t think they like to say that, but obviously the markets indicate that there is a different attitude about what it is.
“Who’s in the market has a lot to do with things, too. You have major-market franchises, you have a generational talent in the market [in Soto],” he said.
