Juan Soto on 15-year, $765M deal -

Superstar outfielder Juan Soto’s signing with the New York Mets is the talk of the town! He’s inked a whopping 15-year deal worth $765 million, which is the biggest contract in all of pro sports history, according to what people are saying last night.

And get this – there’s no funny business with this deal! It’s got a cool feature where he can opt out after five years. Plus, the amount can go up to over $800 million if certain things play out. No deferred payments either, just cold hard cash, baby! This is huge news for baseball fans everywhere!

The 26-year-old baseball superstar, Soto, who’s got a rep for smacking balls out of the park and being really picky with his pitches (only swinging at the good ones, obviously), has caused a bit of a stir in the free agent world. You see, he’s got this cool track record of crushing it in the postseason, so all the big-name teams are like “Hey, we want that guy!” The Mets, who had a pretty unexpectedly amazing season and almost made it to the top dog series, snagged him up. They’re looking pretty solid for the next few years

The contract, which was sealed after a crazy month of back and forth that had everyone meeting face-to-face and going through not one, not two, but three bidding rounds with Scott Boras pushing Soto’s skills like a boss, totally showed that Soto’s call to pass on that 15-year, $440 million deal from the Nats in 2022 was a solid move. The Nats had signed him when he was just a 16-year-old kid from the D.R., and boy did he grow into a big league star on their watch. But, after they tried to lock him down and he said no thanks, they ended up trading him to the Padres, which kicked off this wild 2½-year roller coaster ride with him switching teams not once, but twice.

So, Soto lands in D.C. when he’s just a teenager, and gets called up to the big leagues sooner than anyone thought because some of their outfield guys got hurt. And what does he do in his first-ever real game on May 21, 2018? He hits a bomb to the opposite field on the very first pitch! He keeps smashing home runs like it’s nobody’s business, more than half of ’em to center and left, which is just nuts.

This dude is a unicorn in baseball because he’s got this sick ability to hit so well that everyone’s talking about it. He’s like a walking, breathing home run machine. And remember that one time in 2019 when he hit three home runs in the World Series and basically carried the Nats to victory over the ‘Stros? That’s just the kind of thing he does.

And let’s not forget 2020, when he was absolutely killing it with a .351 batting average, .490 on-base, and .695 slugging percentage in just 47 games. If he hadn’t caught the ‘rona and then had some elbow drama, he’d probably be flaunting an MVP trophy right now.

But 2022 rolls around, and the Nats are trying everything to keep him happy with all these extension offers, but he’s just not having it. So, they pull the trigger on this massive trade, sending him and Josh Bell to San Diego for a whole bunch of players. It’s like the trade of the century, you know? And now, Soto’s got this huge contract that proves he’s one of the best players out there, and the Nats have to watch him shine elsewhere.

In San Diego, Soto had a bit of a slump in the last couple of months leading up to 2023, but boy did he bounce back! He ended up smacking 35 homers, which was the best he’s ever done, and took the NL lead with 132 walks. But, with the chance to hit the free agency jackpot in a year and the Padres unable to keep him around with a shiny new contract, they made a big move at the winter meetings in 2023. They sent Soto and his buddy, center fielder Trent Grisham, to the Bronx to join the Yanks. The Padres got back a bunch of goodies: Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito, and catcher Kyle Higashioka.

Once Soto donned the pinstripes, he was unstoppable. He hit like a machine, with .288/.419/.569 stats, popping out 41 homers and driving in 109 runs. And let’s not forget the postseason, where he went nuts, hitting .327/.469/.633 and knocking in four more homers and nine RBIs in just 14 games. His big moment? That walk-off home run in the 15th inning of Game 5 in the ALCS, sending New Yorkz

Now, when it comes to huge contracts, we’ve seen some big ones, like A-Rod’s massive deal back in 2000. But Soto’s contract is a real showstopper, especially considering the previous record-holder was none other than the incredible Shohei Ohtani. The guy’s so hot, he made teams want to throw more money at him than what A-Rod got in his entire deal.

Before Soto signed his monster deal, the longest one in baseball history was Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 14-year contract with the same Padres who had to let Soto go. So, the idea of keeping Soto in his prime for 15 whole years was like winning the lottery for the teams trying to sign him. They were all eager to match that offer, knowing he could hit some major career milestones and maybe even make his way to Cooperstown.

If any baseball player’s got a resume that deserves the big bucks, it’s Juan Soto’s for sure. This guy’s a four-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, he’s hit his way to a batting championship, won the Home Run Derby, and even has a World Series ring to show off. And let’s talk stats – his .421 on-base percentage is the best in the game since he first stepped on the field, and his .532 slugging percentage is pretty darn high at number seven. Plus, his .953 OPS and 158 wRC+ are sitting pretty at fourth place. Oh, and did I mention he’s got more walks at his age than anyone else in baseball history, with a whopping 769 of them, which is like 100 more than Mickey Mantle had at the same point in his career.

So, with all this amazingness under his belt, it’s no surprise that Soto totally killed it in the arbitration system, raking in a cool $54 million over the last two seasons. And now, with this new $765 million deal, he’s pocketing a sweet $379 million more than what the Nationals offered him in their last contract extension.

Back when this was all going down, Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, basically said, “Look, you can’t compare this guy to anyone else. We’re talking big league finance here.” And boy, did the money people agree with him on Sunday night. They shouted it from the rooftops: Juan Soto just scored the biggest deal in baseball history. Ever.