We are now in the middle of November. GM Meetings came and went, trades and transfers trickled in. The MLB offseason is fully operational, and this year that can only mean one thing: The Juan Soto Watch is officially on.

Soto is the first domino to fall this winter; The 26-year-old superstar is hoping to sign a potentially record-breaking contract once the ink is dry on the game’s biggest spenders. It looks like the baseball world won’t have to wait long to make a decision: Soto and his manager, Scott Boras, are preparing to host teams for in-person meetings in Southern California starting next week. Sign soon.

At this point we have a pretty good idea of ​​who these teams will be. The New York Yankees and York Mets are already confirmed, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays have been added to the list. However, Heyman also added another piece of information that caught everyone’s attention, claiming that Soto and Boras will host two more “mysterious” teams; one of them is believed to be from a smaller market.

That’s right, it’s mystery team season again. Sometimes this is just a negotiation tactic; It is a way for an agent to push his client’s bids higher. But sometimes the mystery team has the last laugh, which means Heyman’s report is worth taking seriously. Who might be the other two suitors for Soto’s services? Let’s investigate.

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We can knock out a lot of teams in no time. The White Sox, Angels, Athletics, Marlins and Rockies are all a tough team just because of the rivalry. The Reds, Buccaneers and Twins are almost certainly out of money right now. The Rangers have plenty of other needs to fill and reportedly wants to reduce payrollThe Cardinals are selling rather than buying, the Cubs are more or less anyway excluded themselves Days ago, the Diamondbacks’ corner outfield spot was discussed, the Braves appear to have their own corner spot as well the views are elsewhere and the Padres traded Soto last winter.

This leaves us with the following options: Orioles, Rays, Guardians, Royals, Tigers, Astros, Mariners, Phillies, Nationals and Brewers. The Astros have their own right fielders they can lock up for the long term, so we could eliminate them. Milwaukee and Baltimore both have plenty of young outfield talent, which would seem to indicate their restricted free agent money would be better used in other areas. The Guardsmen, Royals, and Marines are all adapting to varying degrees, but we have no evidence that they are willing to swim in these financial waters. The 14-year mega-extension the Royals gave Bobby Witt Jr., the largest contract handed out by any of the four, is less than half the contract Soto is expected to receive this winter.

We suddenly narrowed ourselves down considerably. The Rays, Tigers, Phillies and Nationals remain a decent list that includes both large- and small-market teams. Which two seem more likely? I’m really tempted to consider the Rays – keep in mind they offered very competitive money for Freddie Freeman a few years ago – but that sounds a little rich to their heart and seems like a tough sell for Soto given the current relocation rumors and moribund fan mass Scott Boras likes to bend Washington owner Mark Lerner’s ear, and the Nats look ready to usher in a new era of contention, but it’s hard to see Soto returning to the team whose extension offer he rejected. And then there were two.

That would be okay total It’s a mystery considering how much speculation there has been about the Phillies potentially pursuing Soto this summer. However, we have not yet been able to confirm any of these speculations and therefore they still qualify as a mystery team.

And math is added. This team needs some shake-up after another postseason flare-up, and it just so happens that two current corner outfielders, Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh, in addition to third baseman Alec Bohm, have been floated as potential trade candidates. Given Philly’s current financial situation and roster gridlock, it makes sense that Dave Dombrowski would want to keep a channel open with Boras, even though he doesn’t want too much information leaking to the media; The last thing the Phillies want is for Soto to go elsewhere after Castellanos’ name is floating around in the rumor mill.

It also makes sense that a team with so much starting pitching, a clear desire for a more contact-oriented approach, and one of the most aggressive lead managers in the game would bid here. It’s not the most likely destination, but it’s hard to believe Dombrowski didn’t at least seriously consider it.

This brings us to our small market mystery team. The Tigers are young and on the rise, just one game away from facing Soto’s Yankees in the ALCS this season. They also appear ready to spend: Detroit owner Chris Ilitch took over the team after the death of his father, Mike, who was never shy about spending big money to bring players to the Motor City when his team was ready to compete.

Ilitch has publicly expressed his desire to follow in his father’s footsteps, and now is the time to act. The Tigers have a gaping hole in left field moving forward; Parker Meadows is in center, Riley Greene is in right and Kerry Carpenter is better suited to DH duties. The AL Central is ready to buy, and Tarik Skubal is fielding a pitching staff that plans to take a big step forward next season. This is exactly the type of team that could enter the conversation and the type of owner Boras wants to use to advantage.