The New York Yankees have to be thrilled about the production they have received from outfielder Juan Soto. After acquiring him in a blockbuster trade from the San Diego Padres during the offseason, the star right fielder has fit right in.
Hitting ahead of superstar Aaron Judge certainly has its perks. Teams don’t want to put players on base ahead of him, which has led to a lot of production out of Juan Soto over the first seven weeks of the season.
Soto currently leads MLB with 206 plate appearances and has made the most of them. He is hitting .302 with a .403 on-base percentage and .517 slugging. Through 45 games he has taken more walks than he has struck out and has 19 extra base hits with 34 RBIs.
That kind of production is only going to make his price tag this winter more expensive. Set to hit free agency for the first time in his career, Juan Soto has set himself up to get paid. As a Scott Boras client, he will be aiming for the biggest contract he can get.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Juan Soto has said that he would give Boras his blessing to negotiate during the season if the Yankees want to talk. That is something Hal Steinbrenner, the owner of the team, would consider.
“We’d like to see him here for the rest of his career. I don’t think there’s any doubt in that. His agent, Scott, doesn’t tend to do deals in the middle of the season. Neither do I. I think it can be a distraction,” Steinbrenner said in the interview. “But as I said in spring training … this is a unique situation and a very unique player, so I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a conversation or two had possibly during the course of a season. I think it’s worth doing at some point.”
But, Soto’s own focus will be on the field helping the Yankees win games.
“They know the phone number and everything. They know where to call. For me right here, I’m focusing on playing baseball. My thing is try to help the team win,” he said.
Back in 2022, Soto turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Washington Nationals. He was betting on himself, as he thought a better deal would be offered after the 2024 season.
Based on some of the contracts that have been handed out recently, that should be a winning bet for the three-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger. He may not get the $700 million that Shohei Ohtani did, but it would not be surprising if Juan Soto, who is going to be only 26 when this next contact begins, became the second-highest-paid player in MLB.
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