DALLAS — At baseball's annual winter meetings in Dallas, the only manager coy with his compliments about superstar Juan Soto was the one in charge of his new team, if the reports are to be believed.
Asked about his offseason, New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza smiled. "It's going well. It's going really well," he said to the crowd of reporters. "There's a lot to like when you're looking at a player who's worth that much money."
For the past 24 hours, reports of a blockbuster $765 million deal to bring Soto, one of the sport's finest young hitters, to the Mets for 15 years have dominated the baseball world.
By Monday night, the Mets had still not publicly confirmed the move. But the eye-popping contract is worth even more than last year's then-record-setting $700 million deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani. And landing with the Mets meant Soto had rejected his current team, the New York Yankees, to head from the Bronx to Queens.
"He's a tremendous player," said Dave Martinez, who managed Soto during his 4.5 seasons with the Washington Nationals. "He's going to help the Mets, as we all know. I'm proud of him."
A star from his first MLB start
From the beginning of his major league career, the Dominican-born Soto has been a star. In his first start as a 19-year-old with the Nationals, he hit a home run in his first appearance at the plate. He quickly became a fan favorite with his easy smile and "Soto shuffle," his trademark shimmy at the plate. He won a World Series title with the team in 2019, the first in the franchise's history.
In 2022, he was traded to the San Diego Padres, who then dealt him to the New York Yankees ahead of the 2024 season.
On a one-year deal in New York, Soto had the best year of his still-young career, with 41 regular season home runs and another four in the playoffs during the Yankees' unsuccessful bid for the World Series title. He received the third-most votes in the American League MVP race. Since his debut in 2018, he's won a total of five Silver Slugger awards and four All-Star game appearances.
It is rare for a player of his caliber to come on the open market at such a young age — at 26, he may not have yet reached the peak of his skill.
Soto stood out from other young prospects from the start, Martinez said. "The ball comes off his bat different. The way he approaches the hitting was way different than a lot of kids I've seen," he said.
"I don't know what he's going to do when he's 40, but I know what he's gonna do come opening day," Martinez added. "The Mets got a really good player and a great person, so I'm really happy for him."
To Padres manager Mike Shildt, who worked with Soto during both his seasons in San Diego, Soto's enormous contract was a sign of baseball's health and stature in the wider world of entertainment.
Shildt compared the annual value of Soto's contract — $51 million per year — to that of TV personality Judge Judy, who reportedly earned $47 million per year in the 2010s.
"Forty seven million dollars a year, and I don't think she throws a really good curveball or could hit a good slider. And she was making way more than anybody — before Juan — has made in our industry," Shildt said. "So, good for him. I'm happy for him."
Clarification: An earlier version of this story mentions the Yankees "unsuccessful bid for the World Series." It has been updated for clarity - the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
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