LOS ANGELES (AP) — Once again, Juan Soto is at Dodger Stadium with all of baseball talking about his future. His first time came before the All-Star Game in July 2022. Soto was surrounded by reporters in the Center Field Plaza and questioned over his decision to turn down Washington’s $440 million, 15-year offer — what would have been the biggest deal in baseball history.
Hours later, the 23-year-old won the Home Run Derby. “That was crazy,” Soto recalled Thursday. He was back in New York Yankees gray on an even grander World Series stage, and the buzz around his next prodigious payday persisted ahead of Game 1 on Friday — his 26th birthday.
“Just give him as much money as you possibly can,” teammate Clarke Schmidt said, sitting about 100 feet away. “I think money talks. So whatever he needs, I think you’ve got to make it happen.
” Soto was traded to San Diego two weeks after that All-Star Game and then to New York last December. Now, on the eve of the first Yankees-Dodgers World Series since 1981, he was asked about his looming free agency and the possibility of $600 million offers. Like he did 27 months earlier, he avoided direct answers and deflected to agent Scott Boras.
“Scott has been doing a really good job,” Soto said. “He’s been taking all the bullets and everything. I’m just focused on playing baseball right now.
” Soto and Aaron Judge have become manager Aaron Boone's favorite combo, a historic batting order portmanteau. They filled .
