How Juan Soto’s deal with the Mets transforms baseball
By choosing the Mets, Soto flipped the script in New York and across the sport.
DALLAS – 15 years, $765 million and no deferred money. The figures of the contract Juan Soto with the New York Mets, agreed Sunday night in a deal that sets a new standard for the largest contract in the history of professional sports, they tell a story. A baseball-loving phenom from the Dominican Republic reached the big leagues at age 19, thrived instantly, bet on himself by turning down a $440 million contract offer two years ago, and now emerges with a record amount of dollars and years, and reminds the sporting world of the infinite possibilities that exist when extreme talent meets a free market.
However, it is not the only story. This is as much about the Mets as it is about Soto, about a franchise that during its 63 years of existence has lived in the shadow of its pedigree neighbor. Not anymore. Not after the two New York teams clashed over a player who spent 2024 in the Bronx but moved to Queens for a long-term commitment.
Think about it for a second. A Yankee chose to be a Met. And not just any Yankee: one who helped lead the storied franchise to the World Series this year, one whom the team was equally willing to pay more than $700 million over 15 seasons. The size of Soto’s contract (bigger than Shohei Ohtani’s with the Los Angeles Dodgers, bigger than Lionel Messi’s with Barcelona, bigger than Patrick Mahomes’ with the Kansas City Chiefs) is mind-boggling. Even more surprising is the Mets’ resurgence from a team whose weaknesses were its defining characteristic to the destiny of an archetypal free agent.
And for that, every Mets fan, from Astoria to Jamaica, from Whitestone to Far Rockaway, can thank Steve Cohen. When Cohen bought the team in 2020, hope (something that was previously in short supply among Mets fans) seeped in. One of the richest men in the world, with a fortune estimated at $20 billion, was buying his team. And he was ready to build a giant.
Failures peppered Cohen’s first four years as owner, but they were no longer the defining characteristic of the franchise. He struck gold with the exchange of Francisco Lindor and the subsequent contract extension. He found the right president of baseball operations in David Stearns and the right manager in Carlos Mendoza. More than anything, Cohen changed the culture in and around the organization. After decades of behaving like a mid-market team, the Mets became the ultimate version of what they could be: a terrifying machine, filled with talented people and an owner willing to go where others wouldn’t go.
The hiring of Soto represents the next step in the evolution of the Mets. This isn’t a championship team yet (its run to the National League Championship Series this season was a fluke), but it has the makings of one. And with Stearns’ knowledge, Mendoza’s intuition and Cohen’s support, the Mets’ foundation is rock solid, capable of withstanding the tectonic shifts that brought down lesser franchises.
A lineup with the names of Lindor and Soto in the first two places and the emerging star Mark Winds in the third it is as good as any outside of Los Angeles, home of the team that eliminated the Mets in October and won the World Series. If there’s a proper model to follow, it’s the Dodgers, and Cohen isn’t too proud to see success and try to replicate it. New York’s depth doesn’t match Los Angeles’, even after hiring Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas to join a rotation with Kodai Senga and David Peterson, and it’s unlikely he will do so by Opening Day next year. Which is fine. Because the Mets aren’t just trying to win in 2025. They want to win in 2025 and 2026 and 2027 and 2028 and through 2039, when Soto’s contract expires.
Winning takes time, even for a team whose payroll could be the largest in the Major Leagues for the third consecutive season. Their minor league system isn’t where it should be, and getting there will be even more difficult with the late-round draft picks that come with success. Despite all the Mets’ positive aspects (Edwin Diaz patrolling the ninth inning, Brandon Nimmo taking professional at-bats, Francisco Alvarez ready to make the leap), a team is more than its 10 best players. More talent is needed.
Soto is a great starter. This October, his ability to rise to the moment validated all the praise lavished upon him since his debut in 2018. He showed his power when it mattered. He spit on pitches just outside the strike zone. He lived up to an idealized version of himself and entered a free agent market that was eager to reward him. Everything conspired in favor of Soto. In a sport obsessed with age, he was the rare 26-year-old available at no cost except money. In a sport where pitching often outperforms hitting, he ranks alongside Ohtani and Aaron Judge his former Yankees teammate, as the best hitters on the planet. In a sport spooked by the failures of free agents, he gave the impression that not only the Mets and the Yankees, but also the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays tried much harder than they imagined they would in a effort to achieve it.
Because of baseball’s unpredictability, this could all fall apart spectacularly. For $765 million, the Mets could have signed a handful of excellent free agents. But to a bettor (Cohen made his fortune on Wall Street), this looks like the beginning of a golden era for Mets baseball. While the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have dominated the NL East and the Dodgers are emerging as playoff contenders, Soto’s contract is a statement: the Mets are building something great. So get on board, lest the 7 train leave the station without you.
Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, finalized his contract at the winter meetings in Dallas, where baseball’s first true megadeal was agreed upon 24 years ago, almost exactly on the same day. Alex Rodriguez, also represented by Boras, was a 25-year-old whose 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers doubled the previous guaranteed record. Rodríguez opted out of the contract in 2007 and signed again for $275 million. The next time someone signed for more was for the 13-year, $325 million contract of Giancarlo Stanton. That was in 2015.
For a decade and a half, Rodriguez’s contracts remained the standard. When Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract (which, due to deferrals, is currently worth less than $500 million) broke the full guarantee record last winter, it seemed like a safe bet to hold the mark. for a long time. It lasted less than a year.
That’s because Juan Soto is Juan Soto, because Steve Cohen is Steve Cohen, because the game is the game, subject to change at any time. And it changed on Sunday, with dollars and years and decisions and consequences: a new story ready to be written.
