Soto's game changer, "Having secured more than $500 million"...Yankees trying to catch, Mets trying to take away?
Aug 13, 2024
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The Athletic columnist Jim Borden predicted on the 13th (Korea time) that he would sign a contract worth at least $500 million, putting Soto at the top of the reserve FA Top 50 corner.
Boden predicted, `Juan Soto has been a game-changer for the Yankees this season and has been in the top five in AL MVP voting. He is likely to sign a contract worth more than $500 million, and two teams in New York are expected to scramble for it.'
The prospect of Soto's expected FA contract of at least $500 million has emerged several times before. A representative example is the results of a survey conducted by ESPN in June.
In a survey of 28 experts, including each club's officials, agents and reporters, ESPN asked the size of Soto's FA contract, more than half, or 17 people, answered more than $500 million. There were also three experts who said it was more than $600 million.
ESPN said at the time that 17 people, or 61% of the 28 experts, believe Soto will accept a contract worth at least $500 million this coming winter. This means that it exceeds Shohei Ohtani's 10-year contract on a present value basis.
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December last year, setting a record in major league history. However, the current price will drop to about $460 million due to the deferred payment conditions to receive 680 million dollars, or 97.1 percent of the total amount, for 10 years from 2034 to 2043, after the contract period ends.
If Soto decides to sign more than $500 million in FA contracts and receive all of them without suspension, as expected by 17 experts who participated in the survey, it will surpass Ohtani to achieve the highest ransom record ever.
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As Borden expected, his performance so far remains even after filling $500 million.
As of this day, Soto is listed in AL 'Top 10' in almost all major offensive categories. He is fourth in home runs (30), seventh in RBIs (82), second in runs scored (97), seventh in batting average (0.302), second in on-base percentage (0.431), fourth in slugging percentage (0.586) and second in OPS (1.017). bWAR (6.9) and fWAR (7.0), which quantify overall capabilities, are ranked fourth and third, respectively.
Soto can score 41 home runs, 111 RBIs and 131 runs this year if he applies his pace so far. All three categories correspond to career high. Soto's trademark walks are 98 to rank second in the AL, which can also record 132. This is the same figure as last season.
The Yankees brought Soto through a trade with the San Diego Padres in December last year. It is no exaggeration to say that his twin guns with Aaron Judge put the Yankees' offense at the top of the list this season. Yankees have team walks (494), on-base percentage (0.336), and OPS (0.776), ranking first overall in the Major League, while team home runs (180) and team runs (616), ranking second respectively.
MLB.com 's two-league MVP mock vote announced on the same day ranked third after Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. However, it is not strange to cast a first-place vote on Soto.
jhno@sportschosun.com
