{"id":15060,"date":"2024-12-06T16:54:46","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T16:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=15060"},"modified":"2024-12-06T16:54:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T16:54:46","slug":"hot-deals-juan-soto-closing-in-on-bigger-than-ohtani-contract-yankees-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=15060","title":{"rendered":"HOT DEALS!! Juan Soto Closing in on Bigger-Than-Ohtani Contract: Yankees Insider"},"content":{"rendered":"
Juan Soto\u2019s final decision nears, with record-breaking offers expected. The Yankees are poised for a final shot to keep the free agent.<\/div>\n
\"Juan<\/div>\n
\n

The\u00a0Juan Soto\u00a0free agency sweepstakes is\u00a0baseball\u2019s\u00a0slow-drip thriller this offseason. But the final episode of this series is likely just a week or less away.<\/p>\n

Reports this week, including those from Yankees insider Jack Curry, strongly indicate a mega deal for Soto is imminent \u2014 and could exceed the present-day average annual value of the contract of last year\u2019s marquee free agent,\u00a0Shohei Ohtani.<\/p>\n

Decision Day Coming<\/h2>\n

The consensus among\u00a0MLB\u00a0reporters is that Soto will accept a contract offer from one of his many bidders by the end of baseball\u2019s Winter Meetings, scheduled for December 8 to 12 in Dallas.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan reports that Soto\u2019s decision will come earlier \u2014 by Monday \u201cat least.\u201d<\/p>\n

By next Thursday, the baseball world will likely know whether Soto will stay with the\u00a0New York Yankees, or\u00a0be poached by one of its rivals: the\u00a0Boston Red Sox\u00a0or the\u00a0New York Mets.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0and\u00a0Toronto Blue Jays also reportedly remain in the mix.<\/p>\n

The Latest from the Yankees Hot Stove<\/h2>\n

But Curry, perhaps the most authoritative reporter on the Yankee beat, has some encouraging news for fans of the Bronx Bombers.<\/p>\n

In an appearance this afternoon on ESPN-NY\u2019s \u201cThe Michael Kay Show,\u201d Curry, an analyst for the Yankees\u2019 YES Network and former New York Times reporter, said of Soto:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve always had a gut feeling he was leaning toward the Yankees.<\/em>\u201d He said he maintains that disposition.<\/p>\n

Curry reports that Soto\u2019s talks have narrowed down to \u201cfour teams\u201d that remain \u201cheavily involved.\u201d The Dodgers, he revealed to the relief of many, are \u201cmore on the outskirts.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for a timeline, Curry states that the talks are indeed \u201cwinding down\u201d and he \u201cwould be shocked\u201d if they \u201cweren\u2019t resolved by the end of the winter meetings next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Numbers Game<\/h2>\n

Curry revealed that Soto will see a payday that could exceed not just the present-day total value of Ohtani\u2019s contract, but also its nominal figures.<\/p>\n

This is partly because Curry expects the 26-year-old Soto to receive a much longer contract. Ohtani\u2019s was for 10 years. Curry says he thinks Soto\u2019s will be for 14 or 15 years.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s contract determined by the MLB Players Association.<\/p>\n

With great confidence, the former New York Times reporter said, \u201cI would almost guarantee you [that] it\u2019s going to be above that Ohtani number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curry added that the Soto deal \u201ccould hit $50 million\u201d per year, but qualified that he \u201ccan\u2019t know with certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

So that would mean Soto is headed toward a minimum $602 million contract, but could exceed $700 million \u2014\u00a0the figure his super-agent Scott Boras has been pushing for.<\/p>\n

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

So that means,\u00a0contrary to an earlier report by others, the Yankees actually surpassed the $550 million threshold, and team owner\u00a0Hal Steinbrenner is, in fact, very much willing to wheel and deal for this year\u2019s premier free agent slugger.<\/p>\n

Yankees Get Last Licks?<\/h2>\n

Ultimately, the question of where Soto goes may go down to whether Steinbrenner is willing to match the best offer.<\/p>\n

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com said this week, \u201cI think the Yankees believe they will have a final crack to match or beat whatever the best offer they have is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soto and Boras, he said, \u201caren\u2019t signing without taking that final deal back to the Yankees.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juan Soto\u2019s final decision nears, with record-breaking offers expected. The Yankees are poised for a final shot to keep the free agent. The\u00a0Juan Soto\u00a0free agency sweepstakes is\u00a0baseball\u2019s\u00a0slow-drip… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nHOT DEALS!! 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