460 days...

Juan Soto is officially a New York Met. The contract signed by Soto and his handlers late Sunday evening was for $765 million over 15 years. The contract offer from the incumbent Yankees that he spurned was for $760 million over 16 years. The Red Sox offer came in around $700 million over 15 years, and the Dodgers made their offer in the $600 million neighborhood. What Soto’s decision says to me is that there was enough of an overall monetary gap where he only seriously considered the Yankees and Mets as potential landing spots. Although, with Red Sox manager Alex Cora likely being the best manager of the four teams, and the hypothetical top of the Dodgers lineup being Ohtani-Soto-Betts-Freeman looming, it couldn’t have been easy for Soto to discard those two ball clubs. Furthermore, if all that separated the Yankees and Mets was $5 million and one year, Soto’s actions say that he has more faith in the future of the Mets than he does the Yankees. Soto has a player option after five years where he can opt out, so he’s clearly betting that the next five seasons will be more fruitful in Queens than in the Bronx. However, the Mets also retain some control after five seasons, as they can void Soto’s opt-out clause by bumping up his annual salary to $55 million per. Looks like Soto’s got what the Lox were singing about in the late 90’s… Money, power and respect. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blockscorner.substack.com