A veteran MLB scout who “isn’t permitted to be quoted with his name by his club” is the latest noteworthy member of the baseball community to predict that the New York Yankees will ultimately lose All-Star outfielder Juan Soto to free agency after the ongoing season.
“The Yankees better win this year because I don’t think they’re keeping Soto,” the scout told Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com for a piece published Monday. “He has (agent) Scott Boras representing him. Boras is going to ask for the world because he thinks Soto is the best player in baseball. I can see the Yankees offering Soto more money than Aaron Judge is getting (in his $360M contract), but (Yankees owner) Hal Steinbrenner isn’t going to fork over $150M more. He’s not going to pay Soto $200M more than Judge if that’s what it takes to match someone.”
Steinbrenner raised eyebrows and attracted criticism when he said last week that the Yankees’ payroll is “not sustainable” over multiple years due to luxury-tax penalties. Soto, meanwhile, is expected to at least try to reset the market later this year and is routinely linked by reporters with the New York Mets.
“I do think someone will pay that for Soto, who already turned down $440M from the [Washington Nationals] a couple years ago,” the scout continued. “I think the Mets will give Soto $500M, maybe $550M, and he will go to whoever gives him the most money.”
There’s no sign Soto will offer the Yankees any discount before or after he reaches the open market this fall. The 25-year-old suggested ahead of this past weekend that he is “open to deal with anybody” as a free agent.
The first-place Yankees will enter Tuesday at 37-18. As for Soto, he recorded a .310 batting average with 14 home runs, 44 RBI and a .979 OPS across his first 55 games with the Bronx Bombers.
“Soto has been everything as advertised,” the scout said about the slugger’s New York tenure that began in December. “It’s power. It’s patience at the plate.”
As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Yankees second among the betting favorites at +550 odds to win the 2024 World Series. Achieving that goal may be the only way that paying customers will tolerate Steinbrenner letting Soto sign with a different club this offseason.
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