The New York Yankees seemingly have given up hope of signing All-Star outfielder Juan Soto to a contract extension ahead of free agency. "Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is said to remain steadfast in his interest in signing Juan Soto long term — though the Yankees do seem to be convinced now it isn’t happening in-season," MLB insider Jon Heyman reported Thursday night. Heyman's update is hardly surprising, as it was believed back when the Yankees acquired Soto from the San Diego Padres in December that agent Scott Boras would take the 25-year-old into free agency following this year's World Series.
In late June, Soto carefully neither confirmed nor denied that he could have Boras negotiate with big-spending New York Mets owner Steve Cohen this fall. Interestingly, the Yankees and Mets are heading in different directions before the All-Star break. While the Yankees are in the middle of a summer slump, the Mets began Friday with a National League wild-card playoff berth after they were postseason afterthoughts roughly one month ago.
"Soto...
will be seeking $500M plus, and likely even $600M," Heyman added. "Soto’s expected reticence to negotiate in-season stems from a preference not to distract from the season (plus, of course, the opportunity to choose). Let’s face it: No star of that caliber signs months from free agency.
" It also doesn't hurt that Soto likely has bolstered his value despite the Yankees' recent struggles. Across his first 91 games in pinstripes, he batted .297 with 22 home runs, 64 RBI and a .
992 OPS. As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Soto third among the betting favorites at +1800 odds to win this season's American League Most Valuable Player Award. Steinbrenner raised plenty of eyebrows when he said this past spring that the club's payroll is "not sustainable" due to luxury-tax penalties.
Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay later insisted that Steinbrenner was "not bluffing when he says $300M is an unsustainable payroll." None of that means Steinbrenner won't re-sign Soto before Christmas, but it cannot be ignored that there remains no indication the slugger will give the Bronx Bombers any type of discount before or after he reaches the open market..
