The Juan Soto free agency sweepstakes is baseball’s slow-drip thriller this offseason. But the final episode of this series is likely just a week or less away.

Reports this week, including those from Yankees insider Jack Curry, strongly indicate a mega deal for Soto is imminent — and could exceed the present-day average annual value of the contract of last year’s marquee free agent, Shohei Ohtani.

Decision Day Coming

The consensus among MLB reporters is that Soto will accept a contract offer from one of his many bidders by the end of baseball’s Winter Meetings, scheduled for December 8 to 12 in Dallas.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Soto’s decision will come earlier — by Monday “at least.”

By next Thursday, the baseball world will likely know whether Soto will stay with the New York Yankees, or be poached by one of its rivals: the Boston Red Sox or the New York Mets.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays also reportedly remain in the mix.

The Latest from the Yankees Hot Stove

But Curry, perhaps the most authoritative reporter on the Yankee beat, has some encouraging news for fans of the Bronx Bombers.

In an appearance this afternoon on ESPN-NY’s “The Michael Kay Show,” Curry, an analyst for the Yankees’ YES Network and former New York Times reporter, said of Soto: “I’ve always had a gut feeling he was leaning toward the Yankees.” He said he maintains that disposition.

Curry reports that Soto’s talks have narrowed down to “four teams” that remain “heavily involved.” The Dodgers, he revealed to the relief of many, are “more on the outskirts.”

As for a timeline, Curry states that the talks are indeed “winding down” and he “would be shocked” if they “weren’t resolved by the end of the winter meetings next week.”

The Numbers Game

Curry revealed that Soto will see a payday that could exceed not just the present-day total value of Ohtani’s contract, but also its nominal figures.

This is partly because Curry expects the 26-year-old Soto to receive a much longer contract. Ohtani’s was for 10 years. Curry says he thinks Soto’s will be for 14 or 15 years.

Curry also told Kay, who is also the Yankees play-by-play announcer on the YES Network, that Soto will probably surpass the $43 million average annual value of Ohtani’s contract determined by the MLB Players Association.

With great confidence, the former New York Times reporter said, “I would almost guarantee you [that] it’s going to be above that Ohtani number.”

Curry added that the Soto deal “could hit $50 million” per year, but qualified that he “can’t know with certainty.”

So that would mean Soto is headed toward a minimum $602 million contract, but could exceed $700 million — the figure his super-agent Scott Boras has been pushing for.

Earlier this week, Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reported that every team that remains in the mix for Soto offered at least $600 million.

So that means, contrary to an earlier report by others, the Yankees actually surpassed the $550 million threshold, and team owner Hal Steinbrenner is, in fact, very much willing to wheel and deal for this year’s premier free agent slugger.

Yankees Get Last Licks?

Ultimately, the question of where Soto goes may go down to whether Steinbrenner is willing to match the best offer.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com said this week, “I think the Yankees believe they will have a final crack to match or beat whatever the best offer they have is.”

Soto and Boras, he said, “aren’t signing without taking that final deal back to the Yankees.”

Yankees fans are undoubtedly hoping that when that final call comes to Hal in the coming days, he will live up to the Steinbrenner name.