The New York Mets introduced Juan Soto at a news conference on Thursday at his new place of employment in Queens, not too far from the Bronx where he spent last season starring for the New York Yankees. The four-time All-Star has officially joined the Mets after signing a record 15-year, $765 million deal.
The richest contract in pro sports history, which was finalized on Wednesday, turned heads. It surpassed the contract value of Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani only one year after the Japanese phenom signed a 10-year contract valued at $700 million.
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However, Ohtani’s historic contract included $680 million in deferred money (a full 97% of his salary), which will be paid out from 2034 through 2043. That payment structure wasn’t considered in the negotiations with the Mets, according to baseball mega-agent Scott Boras.
“That was never a track that we followed,” Boras said in an interview after Soto’s appearance in Queens. “Teams suggested but we did a deal that was of current day value.”
Soto’s contract, which has a potential total value of $805 million based on an option, has no deferred money and included a $75 million signing bonus.
Boras, who has negotiated billions for his clients since he started representing baseball players in 1980, said that he isn’t against contracts that include deferred pay, pointing to the five-year, $182 million deal he negotiated for Ohtani’s new teammate, Blake Snell. The two-time Cy Young Award winner will defer $66 million through 2046 ($13 million per season) as part of his new agreement.
“I got a $52 million signing bonus to go with it,” Boras said of Snell’s recent deal. “It’s all about a balancing of value. You try to hear what teams need to do and what the necessity is, and you figure things out from there. … Some teams do (deferrals) and some teams don’t. They really want to know what your preference is.”
Soto told reporters Thursday that he was intrigued by the potential dynasty that the Mets might construct. The 26-year-old standout from the Dominican Republic was personally hosted by Mets owner Steve Cohen at his Beverly Hills mansion—an intimate meeting that helped lure Soto from the Yankees.
Cohen has made the club one of the league’s top spenders since he bought the team in 2020 as he looks to bring the Mets their first World Series title since 1986.
“This was a competitive process,” Cohen said at the news conference. “There were many teams involved. It was hard to know where you stood. It was a moving target and things were changing by the day. There are moments where you start questioning if you’re doing to be successful at this. In the end, I got the call that I wanted.”
Soto reportedly turned down a 16-year, $760 million offer from the Yankees, who recently fell to the Dodgers in the World Series. The Mets made their winning contract offer to the star outfielder even sweeter by offering personal security for his family for home and road games as well as a luxury suite at Citi Field, according to the Associated Press. The Yankees did not offer a free suite, which is typical for the club, even for the biggest stars.
Soto, who said he hasn’t spoken to his former Yankees teammates since the World Series run, was attracted to the family friendly atmosphere that the Mets aim to provide. The combination of record setting money and the family care package was enough to seal the deal.
“They showed me a lot of love from a standpoint of how they were going to try to make it comfortable for me,” Soto added. “That’s what impressed me is how they’re going to treat everyone around me including my family. That’s one of the things that I was looking for.”
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