Juan Soto’s favorite destinations as soon as offers are made

Decision time is quickly approaching for the best free agent on the market: Juan Soto. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the outfielder is a superstar expected to sign no later than the conclusion of the Winter Meetings. Given that information, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Soto made his decision within a few weeks.

All eyes are currently on where he will sign and how much he will go for. Will Soto seriously enjoy leaving behind a team he just led to the AL Pennant? Will Soto really come close to or pass the $700 million Shohei Ohtani got last season? Many questions still need to be answered.

Now that Soto has met with several teams interested in signing him, the offers will start rolling in. Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the offers are expected to be made this week. With that in mind, let’s take a look at where Soto might be leaning once the first offers are made.

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Once the offseason started, it felt like Soto was close to staying in New York, but big-market teams like the Philadelphia Phillies And Los Angeles Dodgers loomed as real threats.

The Phillies made a lot of sense on paper for Soto, given their need for a bat in the outfield and Soto’s fame with some key members of the organization such as Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Kevin Long. News came that they were planning to meet Soto, but it turns out they were didn’t even get in touch to meet him. Well, it’s pretty hard to get him if you don’t even try!

The Dodgers seemingly had a great chance of actually convincing Soto to come back west. They have more money than they know what to do with, a star-studded roster ready to win every year, and are in a huge market. It’s hard to think of anything that they could not offer him. They did meet Sotobut it feels like they’re not as desperate as the others on this list to get him on board, and it’s hard to blame them. They are not the defending champions for nothing!

These teams will always be at least a little threatening given their recent spending history and contending status, but until they actually take this seriously, it’s hard to see Soto ending up in either of these spots.

Like the Toronto blue jays showed last season that they have a lot of money to spend. In doing so, they almost persuaded Shohei Ohtani to come north of the border. However, as we saw this past season, the Jays are far from being legitimate threats in the American League.

Even if Soto believes he can win with this Blue Jays team, how willing will he be to sign the 10-year deal he craves, considering that Toronto’s two best players – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette – will be free agents after 2025? ? Complementing the fact that much of Toronto’s core is old, the Bullpen is a messand the agricultural system is far from great, and it is difficult to find them attractive.

Money talks, and that’s what brought them to the table to meet him. Unfortunately, other teams will be willing to offer Soto a truckload of money as well. Unless the Jays outbid the field by a significant margin, it’s hard to imagine them actually getting the outfielder to sign on the dotted line.

When the Boston RedSox were first mentioned in the Soto rumors but were dismissed by most baseball fans. Sure, her could signed him when they remembered they were the Red Sox, but given their recent refusal to spend much money at all, they expected John Henry and Co. actually pay?

Based on all reports… the Red Sox are serious about this. They finally seem ready to establish themselves as legitimate World Series contenders, and signing Soto would obviously get them that much closer.

The Red Sox have an exciting core with players like Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, and Triston Casas already active, they have one of the best farm systems in the majors, and Fenway Park is a perfect baseball field for him. The Red Sox have a lot going for them, it’s just a matter of whether the money matches.

While it’s good to see that Boston is actually willing to steal Soto away from their biggest rivals, it’s ultimately hard to see that they actually outbid the field to land him. Beyond that, it’s hard to imagine Soto settling in Boston for less money than he would get elsewhere.

The fit with Juan Soto and the New York Yankees couldn’t have been much better. He just had one of, if not his, best season in pinstripes in 2024, and given the presence of Aaron Judge and the ballpark he made 81 appearances on the year, it’s easy to expect Soto to dominate in the next decade Bronx. If George Steinbrenner had been in charge, he might now have been locked up for the rest of his career.

It’s really hard to shake the feeling that Hal Steinbrenner is going to be outbid here. Sure, he got Aaron Judge to re-sign, but the Yankees weren’t even the top bid in his pursuit. If the Yankees weren’t willing to spend money on Aaron Judge — a homegrown player who just set the AL record with 62 home runs the season before — what makes you think he’d do everything he could to bring back Soto ?

There’s no doubt that the Yankees need Soto, and Soto could end up staying with the Yankees for less than the top offer, but are we sure? Soto may like being a Yankee, but if money is priority number 1, the Bronx Bombers could be in trouble here.

New York Mets fans were so excited to see Steve Cohen buy the team largely because of seasonal activities like this. A 26-year-old with a Hall of Fame trajectory isn’t available for anything other than money, and the Mets have the richest owner in baseball to try to make it happen.

If all things were equal, would Soto choose the Mets over the Yankees? Probably not, but they are not all created equal. Nightengale reported Monday that the Mets are viewed as ‘clear favorites” in large part to Cohen’s pocketbook. Ultimately, no one is expected to outbid him.

Here too, Soto can choose to sign for less elsewhere. If the Mets had the season many expected them to have in 2024, that might have been his preferred decision. However, this Mets team made it to the NLCS this past season. With him, they should have a realistic chance of dethroning the Dodgers.

If he were to sign with the Mets, it would be mostly for the money, but it’s not like he would be joining a team that has absolutely no chance of winning now or in the future. Having a legitimate team to surround him with and the highest offer financially puts the Mets in an ideal position here. It certainly feels like this is their race to lose from here on out.