Juan Soto Signs With the Mets

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by K111

Is there a chance he is older than 26? Looking at some photos of him I'd think he's in his early 30s and we know how Dominican Republic has a history of this

Always a chance, but looking at how young he looks on his 2016 Bowman Chrome Prospect Card, he’s probably a ‘legit’ 26 now.

[TheHeel]

Jon Heyman:

Juan Soto contract details: $765M, 15 years. $75M signing bonus (state tax advantage: Florida resident). about $120M overall pay 2025. No deferred $. Opt out after 5 years (age 30). Citi Field suite for family (est. value $500K plus plus a year)

[Chuck Bartowski]

If he averages 600 PA over the 15 years that's $85k per PA and it could be higher depending on the the performance increases in the contract. I guess it's just paper with colors on it so who cares.

[callou2131]

Originally Posted by rms13

Anyone want to make predictions on who the first billion dollar man will be in MLB? We're getting close.

May sound odd but I am going to guess Gunnar henderson. At 23 his numbers improved from his ROY year, nd he was actually in the conversation for MVP before he went into a pretty bad slump. Him or maybe Bobby Witt. Those are the 2 biggest names that will be FA in a few years, and Gunnar has boros.

[JustinVerlander07]

Originally Posted by callou2131

May sound odd but I am going to guess Gunnar henderson. At 23 his numbers improved from his ROY year, nd he was actually in the conversation for MVP before he went into a pretty bad slump. Him or maybe Bobby Witt. Those are the 2 biggest names that will be FA in a few years, and Gunnar has boros.

Bobby Witt won't be a FA until he's like 35.

[Zauron]

Originally Posted by Fenway55

I know I don’t follow baseball as much as the members of this sub-forum, but am I the only one who looks at his stats and doesn’t think he is worth such an exorbitant amount?

And I don’t mean in the sense that nobody is worth that much, I mean compared to his peers. He’s making more than Shohei. He’s making double Aaron Judge. I sure as heck would rather have 2 Aaron Judges than 1 Juan Soto.

if Judge hit free agency at age 26 like Soto did, he would command a ton as well.

The key factor is the age of Soto, and how unlikely it is his skill set for offense diminishes.

Very few players get on base at his clip for a season, let alone career. As it stands right now, Soto ranks 19th in all of baseball, all time, in OBP. Granted this is highly likely to change, it just shows how good he is at getting on base.

He also has good average, doesn't strike out a lot, and has decent power. Plus, he might still be entering his prime, and likely will be at his peak for at least 5-7 years.

Do I think he's worth $50 mil for 15 years? Not really, but I don't care, it's not my money. I just hope he stays injury free.

[Skipscards]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

Jon Heyman:

Juan Soto contract details: $765M, 15 years. $75M signing bonus (state tax advantage: Florida resident). about $120M overall pay 2025. No deferred $. Opt out after 5 years (age 30). Citi Field suite for family (est. value $500K plus plus a year)

The $75 MM is what I thought was bonkers, but here's another catch...

if he exercises his opt out clause, the Mets can block it by paying him an additional $4 MM per year bringing the total contract to $805 MM.

[BAHoopla]

So many players seeing this contract are going to be taking so many more pitches going forward. OBP is where the money is!

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by BAHoopla

So many players seeing this contract are going to be taking so many more pitches going forward. OBP is where the money is!

….. Chics dig the long ball

[21Pittsburgh58]

I love it and I may not give up the MLB package now. I enjoyed the Soto/Judge run and will now enjoy the Lindor/Soto run.

The contract means absolutely nothing IF (IF!) they win even 1 World Series because it's freakin' New York. Also, Steve Cohen.

With no cap, this is what MLB gets.

[Hollywood42]

Well, it's still the slug. Since 2021, only 9 players in baseball have a higher SLG than Soto, mostly the names you'd expect like Judge, Shohei, Yordan, Harper, Mookie. The OBP is just what separates Soto from the rest of the elites - nobody has a higher OBP since 2021, and that's the big reason that Soto moves from 10th in SLG to 4th in overall wRC+

Further point - look at the OBP leaderboard over the same span and you'll see guys like Yandy Diaz, Yelich, Arraez, hell, Brendan Donovan(???) in the top 15. But none of them hit for any power relatively, so overall offensively they're merely good instead of great

Originally Posted by BAHoopla

So many players seeing this contract are going to be taking so many more pitches going forward. OBP is where the money is!

[atk825]

Originally Posted by JustinVerlander07

Bobby Witt won't be a FA until he's like 35.

Bobby Witt has a player option after the 2030 season, so going into his age 31 season. Not the worst time to hit the market but yah, definitely on the wrong side of the prime.

[BAHoopla]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Well, it's still the slug. Since 2021, only 9 players in baseball have a higher SLG than Soto, mostly the names you'd expect like Judge, Shohei, Yordan, Harper, Mookie. The OBP is just what separates Soto from the rest of the elites - nobody has a higher OBP since 2021, and that's the big reason that Soto moves from 10th in SLG to 4th in overall wRC+

Further point - look at the OBP leaderboard over the same span and you'll see guys like Yandy Diaz, Yelich, Arraez, hell, Brendan Donovan(???) in the top 15. But none of them hit for any power relatively, so overall offensively they're merely good instead of great

I was more speaking to the up and coming sluggers like Elly, Gunnar, Merrill, the Martian and even Vladdy next year. These guys who can slug seeing how much $$$ the OBP adds when contracts are based on OPS and WAR

[ObanMontecristo]

Vladdy is an interesting case… if he has another season like this year, his stats will actually look pretty similar to Soto’s at age 26 (except for all the walks). Probably won’t get the same money but he’s probably in the $500mm ballpark… especially if he has a huge walk year. Lots of teams are looking for a big 1B too, including the Yankees- dude’s probably licking his chops right now

[JustinVerlander07]

Originally Posted by ObanMontecristo

Vladdy is an interesting case… if he has another season like this year, his stats will actually look pretty similar to Soto’s at age 26 (except for all the walks). Probably won’t get the same money but he’s probably in the $500mm ballpark… especially if he has a huge walk year. Lots of teams are looking for a big 1B too, including the Yankees- dude’s probably licking his chops right now

No shot.

[JWBlue]

Ohtani looks like the steal of the century right now.

[NYBBFAN]

That’s a lotta millions.

[REGGIE206]

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

That’s a lotta millions.

Different times. More players hit over .300 BA back then.. this season, only 7 players with qualifying stats hit over .300 BA. You read that right: only 7 players.

Part of why Soto got a big contract was his young age. There’s a possibility he is not in his prime yet.

But folks were okay with Ohtani making big money while we don’t know if his pitching arm will ever be the same. Look at Soto vs Ohtani batting stats:

[rngrdanny22]

Bagwell was already 23 when he came up in 1991...

[REGGIE206]

Originally Posted by rngrdanny22

Bagwell was already 23 when he came up in 1991...

And Soto lost a year from COVID

[rngrdanny22]

Originally Posted by REGGIE206

And Soto lost a year from COVID

And Bagwell ended up a HOFer... not sure what the comparison was supposed to be?

Had he found someone who completely sucked after turning 26 to compare to, maybe it would make more sense. Hanley Ramirez, maybe?

[Triple B]

Anyone remember when Bonilla became the first $6 million man and everyone lost their minds? Now scrubs are getting $6 million. Wild times.

[rngrdanny22]

Originally Posted by Triple B

Anyone remember when Bonilla became the first $6 million man and everyone lost their minds? Now scrubs are getting $6 million. Wild times.

Scott Kingery scoffs at your post, good sir.

[base set]

In the year 2039

In the year 2039

I like to repeat that, like it’s from an old pop song. Kind of an amazing number in this deal.

[Hollywood42]

I am a little shocked we're coming up on 24 hours since the announcement and we're only at 5 pages in this thread