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It's official: the New York Mets have won the Juan Soto sweepstakes, signing the ex-Yankee hitter to a historic 15-year, $765-million contract, the largest free agency contract in MLB history. For instance, Soto's new contract is even bigger than Shohei Ohtani's $700-million deal with the Dodgers that ultimately won them the 2024 World Series, beating the Mets in the NLCS in six games. Perhaps the Mets have learned from LA's example and decided to spend money to win trophies. Meanwhile, Soto celebrated his new contract with a champagne bath on Instagram.
Check out Soto's champagne celebration on this Instagram clip shared by uSTADIUM MLB on X, formerly Twitter.
Mets land target superstar
Still, the teams involved in the Juan Soto sweepstakes–the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and the Yankees–have done their due diligence in acquiring the superstar hitter.
Fittingly, both New York teams reached the final round, so to speak, but the Yankees topped out their potential deal at 16 years and $760 million, allowing Mets owner Steve Cohen to open his wallet a little wider to pair Juan Soto with Francisco Lindor.
Moreover, the Mets became the only team able to pay Soto $51 million per season, the largest annual value in MLB history, per a report from Anthony DiComo for MLB.com.
Additionally, this move confirms Cohen's willingness to invest in his team, who'd finished two games short of reaching the World Series.
Buying titles?
Despite fans' beliefs, no team can buy championships, since a hundred things have to break the right way for a team to win one. However, one can invest in a championship team, and to do that, teams need owners who are willing to break the bank for the right players.
Likewise, this owner has to be willing to work season after season, hiring the right people for front office and managing positions, besides building a coherent roster around the top guys.
Cohen may have come a step closer to assembling a World Series team, ready to break the stigma of being the “little brother” to the more prestigious Yankees.
Even better for the Mets is that Soto is only 26 years old, and locking him up until his early 40s should give them enough time to win somewhere down the line, if not next season.
Moreover, after completing the Juan Soto deal, the Mets have already become a World Series contender, at least on paper. If the Mets bring back Pete Alonso and fills their pitching needs, they might even make these projections a reality.
