Superstar outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets are in settlement on a 15-year, $765 million contract, sources informed ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the most important deal in skilled sports activities historical past.
The deal contains no deferred cash, sources stated, and has escalators that may attain above $800 million.
Soto rejected a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying provide by the New York Yankees on Nov. 19.
The two most sought-after free brokers this century have been Alex Rodríguez, a 25-year-old elite shortstop in 2000, and Shohei Ohtani, a boundary-breaking two-way machine final winter. Soto, regardless of being a below-average nook outfielder, is third on the record: Organizations determined his hitting prowess at his age is that priceless.
The 2024 season was considered one of Soto’s finest. He slashed .288/.419/.569 for the Yankees, smacking a career-high 41 residence runs and scoring a career-high 128 runs. He completed second within the majors in on-base proportion to teammate Aaron Judge, fourth in slugging, third in OPS, third in wRC+, and fourth in fWAR.
Soto turned 26 on Oct. 25, the day of Game 1 of the World Series. He’s already a four-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger, a batting champion, a Home Run Derby champion, and a World Series champion. His .421 profession on-base proportion is tops in baseball since he debuted with the Washington Nationals in 2018. His .532 slugging proportion is seventh. His .953 OPS and his 158 wRC+ are fourth. His 201 residence runs are ninth.
His 769 profession walks are essentially the most ever for a participant by way of his age-25 season — 99 greater than Mickey Mantle, who’s second on the record. He has been a metronome since breaking into the majors as an adolescent, stitching collectively elite season after elite season.
Soto concluded the 2024 season by going 5-for-16 within the World Series with a house run and 7 walks within the five-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was, from begin to end, well worth the funding the Yankees made final December after they despatched 5 gamers to the San Diego Padres for him and fellow outfielder Trent Grisham earlier than paying him $31 million.
ESPN’s Jorge Castllo contributed to this report.
