What kind of synergy would there be if National League MVP Shohei Ohtani (30) combined with the age of Yoshinobu Yamamoto? This is why the Major League is blossoming every day with stories about Juan Soto (26).
The Athletic, a U.S. sports media outlet, introduced the top 40 free agents in the stove league on the 2nd (Korea time) and published an article titled “Welcome to Soto’s prize draw.”
The Athletic added up the rankings expected by five experts and made predictions for 40 players with statistics, contract size expectations, and optimal combinations.
As you can see from the title, Soto took the top spot without any unexpected changes. “His agent Scott Boras called Soto a “generational” player, but this is not an exaggeration,” the media said, recognizing public criticism of the overheated atmosphere in the FA market, but emphasizing the importance of winning the FA market, citing the example of bold investments by the Texas Rangers in 2023 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024.
“The biggest free agents last winter were Ohtani and Yamamoto. He was an outstanding star and a talented pitcher who appeared in the open market at the age of 25,” the media said. “Soto is a combination of Ohtani’s global offense and Yamamoto’s youth. He is the first star player to appear in the free agent market at the age of 26 in six years since Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.”
The Athletic attributed the clock back to 23 years ago. No other team has achieved an outcome so young since Alex Rodriguez in 2001. Media outlets reported that Soto’s amazing performance in fall baseball, which he showed at bat and had the best season in his career, is also beneficial in evaluation.
“Over the past three seasons, only Aaron Judge, my teammate, has recorded a higher on-base percentage than him. There was no season in which Soto did not start with an on-base percentage of 0.400. Only six players have hit 76 or more home runs in the past two seasons,” he said. “The current evaluation is likely to be similar to the 10-year, 440 million dollars (618.8 billion won) contract that Ohtani signed with the Dodgers is valued at the present value,” he said. “The question 토토사이트 꽁머니 is not whether Soto will reach 500 million dollars (703.2 billion won), but whether he will raise it to 600 million dollars (843.9 billion won),” he predicted.
In this situation, there was also talk that the team that will finally take over Soto is likely to be another two teams, not the original New York Yankees.
MLB.COM, the official website of Major League Baseball (MLB), quoted Randy Miller, a Yankees reporter from NJ.COM, who appeared on New York’s WFAN radio broadcast on the 1st, saying, “The Boston Red Sox and New York Mets are the most likely destinations for Soto,” adding, “The Toronto Blue Jays are likely to be all-in on Superstar Slugger and the Yankees are likely to stay in the final fourth place.”
On the 28th of last month, MLB.COM said that the Yankees are willing to include “opt-out” in the contract terms at the same time as offering upgraded conditions from their initial proposal, but the Yankees still seem to be losing ground in the competition. Earlier, the Mets expressed their intention to catch Soto unconditionally, saying, “It will be $50 million more ahead of any club’s offer,” but they are also losing ground to Boston and Toronto.
“I think it will come down to Boston and the Mets,” Miller said. “From what I’ve heard, ‘The Godfather (David Ortiz) is participating in this work and is working hard to recruit Soto. Soto was also impressed with Boston, and Boston told Soto that it would recruit several more players.”
The Yankees are still serious about Soto. Miller, however, said the Yankees are unlikely to pay 600 million dollars, and that the 550 million-dollar range would be the highest for the Yankees.