Juan Soto ❤️’s NY: Lands a Historic Deal with Mets
Juan Soto is staying in the Big City! After weeks of speculation, the Dominican baseball star has reportedly landed a deal with the New York Mets. After a stellar season with the Yankees, the free agent will join the ranks of the Queens team in a historic 765 million dollar, 15-year deal, considered the largest deal in team sports history.
Juan Soto is officially a Met! (Getty Images)
It was expected that the baseball superstar would land a ludicrous offer after the season he had with the Yankees, but this one sets the record for the longest contract in MLB history, beating Fernando Tatis Jr.’s previous 14-year one. Talks about where he would play his next season included mentions of either staying with the New York Yankees or signing with a new team, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays, but ultimately, he went with the Mets.
At only 26 years old, this will be Soto’s fourth team, after debuting with the Washington Nationals and later on winning the World Series with the San Diego Padres. From there, he was eventually traded to the New York Yankees in 2023, where he had a record-breaking season with the pinstripes team. Alongside star hitters like Judge and Rodón, Soto was a key player in helping the team reach the World Series. Not only did he score 41 homers during the regular season, but his home run on game 5 of the ALCS Championship sent New York into its 41st World Series.
Juan Soto and Aaron Judge last season (Getty Images)
With his impressive track record, it’s not hard to picture him helping the Mets make the playoffs this next season, which would make him only the second player to reach them with four different teams before age 30. He could also break a similar record if he makes it to the All-Star Game as a Met since no player has made the game in four straight seasons with four different teams yet, regardless of their age.
Even though he’ll be relocating from the Bronx to Queens, Juan is no stranger to the Mets territory, as he has had some interesting invisible strings that had tied him to the team before this historic transaction was made. In 2020, he hit his career’s longest home run at Citi Field while playing for the Nationals. Later, in 2022, he won the Wild Card Series there while still with the Padres.
The power hitter will now begin a new chapter as he joins the Mets. The team fell short of its World Series dreams last season when it lost the National League finals to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but with Soto on their side, the hope will undoubtedly be reignited next fall.