Yankees and others await decision as Juan Soto Chase moves into offer phase

Aside from the Los Angeles Angels signing a few free agents and Blake Snell agreeing to a new deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a nice news dump Wednesday night, free agency is moving relatively slowly.

Those awaiting news from Juan Soto are watching it all unfold in what appears to be a three-phase sequence of meetings, offers and increased offers.

The hunt for Soto’s services appears to be bigger than the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes a year ago because of the teams involved. Ohtani had some connection with the Toronto Blue Jays, which included tracking a plane on which he may have been a passenger but was apparently destined to join the Dodgers, which occurred on the second Saturday in December, immediately following the annual tournament , was announced The so-called winter meeting has come to an end.

The similarities are in the money, which means significantly more to the Yankees than was necessary to keep Aaron Judge after his historic 62-homer season in 2022. Judge agreed to a nine-year, $360 million contract to remain with the Yankees during the final weeks of a calendar year in which Soto turned down a $440 million offensive line from the Washington Nationals.

These days, Judge has 58 home runs and a second MVP. He’s also part of the recruiting contingent with managing partner Hal Steinbrenner, trying to keep the duo intact after the Sluggers combined to hit 99 of their 237 home runs. Judge’s role is not to meet with Soto directly, but to provide advice and strategy to Steinbrenner while he works behind the scenes to ensure a re-signing happens.

We discussed a lot of things, from Juan to other guys out there that I think could definitely help this team,” Judge said last week during a conference call after winning the MVP. “I only contributed to a few things.”

His comment on some things likely meant Judge was telling his boss not to worry about Soto ending up being paid significantly more, which is what everyone would expect from the 32-year-old.

“Frankly, it’s not my money,” Judge said on that conference call. “I really don’t care as long as we have the best players. I never thought about who gets paid the most. Whatever we can do to get the best players, I will do it. That’s kind of what it comes down to.”

Players from other teams are probably saying the same thing about the chances of getting Soto. Soto has met with the Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Dodgers, just to name a few, and each offers a different pitch before the contract presentation looks.

For the Red Sox, they are trying to trade Soto to team up with Gerrit Cole killer Rafael Devers and create even more possible bizarre situations like the intentional walk on September 14th. They also use David Ortiz to sell Soto on the team’s history of notable players from the Dominican Republic, which includes Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez, while also expressing the appeal of the Green Monster.

The Mets are trying to convince Soto that he can still enjoy New York, but are also doing it on the other side of town, teaming up with Francisco Lindor in the middle of a $341 million deal and working for the richest owner of Sports, Steve Cohen. They’re also trying to trade him for last year’s 89-win season and run to the NLCS as the start of something lasting unlike 2006 and 2015.

The Blue Jays are considered dark contenders for Soto’s services, but there is also mention of wanting to increase the Yankees’ offer, which is a typical negotiating tactic. Even if Toronto makes an offer close to Soto’s financial criteria, there’s still the question of whether the company will win.

The Blue Jays have yet to overcome the ALDS in the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. era, taking a huge step back to 74 wins after their 2023 season ended with a whimper in the wild-card round amid a controversial decision to send Jose Berrios after 47 to dismiss pitches.

When it comes to the Dodgers, money is no object, and as everyone can see, adding another superstar to the star-studded lineup whose role players love to discuss the Yankees’ weaknesses is hardly a big deal. Even if the Dodgers are willing to pursue him, there are some limits to the Dodger checkbook, and it could be one of those things where they pursue it to some extent before folding and moving on to other teams (not to be confused with Ohtani and Snell’s contract). .

Be that as it may, the big reality show known as the Soto Bidding War is set to gain momentum with a possible solution in the next few weeks.