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Juan Soto ‘Mona Lisa’ free agency; Burnes, Boras on Snell

Harry November 7, 2024

SAN ANTONIO – It was nearly a quarter-century ago, just a five-hour drive away, when Alex Rodriguez and manager Scott Boras shocked the baseball world by signing the richest contract in sports history with the Texas Rangers.

Now we’re in the heart of Texas, at Major League Baseball’s GM meetings in San Antonio; here Boras and Juan Soto are trying to recreate another historic deal, this time with a price tag of nearly $700 million that would eclipse Rodriguez’s. 10-year, $252 million contract at the 2000 winter meetings in Dallas.

The comparisons are eerily similar; Soto turned 26 two weeks ago and is considered the best hitter in the game, while Rodriguez was 25 when he signed with the Rangers.

Soto has a career .285 batting average with 201 homers, 592 RBIs and a .989 OPS. Rodriguez had a .309 batting average with 189 homers, 598 RBIs and a .934 OPS in free agency.

Rodriguez was considered perhaps the best young free agent to hit the market. Boras spent his career with Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr. and believes Soto is one of the best players in the history of the game at that age, comparing him to Rodriguez.

The key difference, according to Boras, is Soto’s track record of succeeding on the biggest stage.

Rodriguez had only played with the Seattle Mariners and was a regular in just two postseasons, never advancing to the World Series.

Soto, who has played for three different teams, has already been to two World Series: He won with the Washington Nationals in 2019 and lost with the New York Yankees last year. He also helped lead the San Diego Padres to the 2022 NLCS. Rodriguez has 11 homers, 30 RBIs and a .927 OPS in his postseason career, while Rodriguez has three homers and eight RBIs in the postseason before entering free agency.

“The one thing I’m really happy about is that Juan played in the World Series,” Boras said, “he’s known for his championship moments. I mean, outside of the Dodgers and the Astros, Juan has the most at-bats in the tournament. I mean, A-Rod’ He’s been seen and understood a lot more than he was as a young actor. Obviously he’s in New York and he’s playing on the New York platform, his character, he’s working in the biggest media markets, everything about Juan is pretty well known.

“So for a free agent this age, being around great players, being in big markets, being in championship situations, all of that. It’s like every box is checked, the championship games that Juan has with A-Rod, the big city games and all that stuff. He didn’t have the full resume of things.”

Soto informed Boras that he wanted to meet face-to-face with any group of team owners who coveted him, including the New York Mets and owner Steve Cohen, as well as Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, where the toughest competition might come from across town.

“They want to win,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. “They are in a big market with us, they have tasted success this year and they want to raise the bar even further. The best way to do this is to import quality players from the players you already have… Being the last team standing is about trying to find great players and adding that to your mix.

Cohen may have the deepest pockets, worth nearly $20 billion — making him the richest owner in baseball, according to Forbes — but it’s not as if Cashman believes this is just a two-team race.

“It’s not just big market owners with deep pockets who are signing players to big deals,” Cashman said. “You’ve seen the San Diego Padres sit on the West Coast, they’ve imported a lot of great players and teams with big contracts and unrivaled interest, so it comes in various forms, in various cities, at various times.

“The market this time of year is so strong from all different facets of the baseball universe, so we have to do our best to compete no matter who it is every year.”

While Soto has certainly enjoyed his time in New York, according to Boras, the biggest draw will be the team’s plans to compete on an annual basis and their strategy to build around him.

“Juan loves to win,” Boras said. “Juan Soto wants ownership that he knows will support his opportunity to win annually. It’s remarkable to think that a player from the Dominican Republic who came from such humble beginnings, despite all the monetary offers he’s received. The focus in the record offers he’s received has always been: ‘I want to know who my owner is,’ I want to know that we can win… If I’m going to dedicate my career to this, I want the owner to devote his resources to it.’

“That’s why Juan Soto became a free agent.”

While Soto certainly won’t provide the same financial benefits as Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani, whose 10-year, $700 million deferred contract has paid off with Japanese corporate sponsorships and ticket sales, Boras insists Soto’s presence would significantly increase sales revenue. the value of the franchise.

“I think when you have something that no one else has in the acting community and the talent arena, you have the jewel. You have the Mona Lisa of the museum. You have the glamor,” Boras said. he said.

“There is also one that allows owners to win again and again, and when owners win again and again, their income increases rapidly. “They are building on the impact of postseason play, attendance, rights in the broadcast world, international branding that has one of the best, and it literally has another 15 years of the best it has to offer.”

Speaking for 48 minutes, Boras also touched upon various issues regarding several of his free agents:

Will the Astros sign Alex Bregman?

Boras said Bregman spent his entire career with the Houston Astros and was asked by several teams if he wanted to move to second base and agreed to do so. Boras said Bregman recently had surgery to remove fractures in his right elbow but will recover within a few weeks.

While GM Dana Brown is cautiously optimistic about bringing Bregman back (signing him to the richest contract in franchise history), Boras said the Astros had no choice but to re-sign him.

“They clearly understand the rarity of being in four World Series and being in the postseason eight years in a row,” Boras said. “Having him be at the center of it. They made sure to measure me throughout the process of being actively involved. Meeting the markets and getting those types of players.” “When it comes to his demand, there’s not a lot of players that do what he does, and Bregman’s ability to play second base, third base and his leadership is a market that the Astors are certainly aware of is very healthy for him.”

Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes are hot commodities

While Corbin Burnes is the best free-agent pitcher on the market, Boras says interest in Blake Snell, who pitched with the San Francisco Giants last season, has increased after his stellar second half. Snell, who struggled badly in the first half after being signed in late March, went 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA after the All-Star break and allowed just 31 hits while striking out 103 in 68.1 innings.

“There’s no doubt that ‘smelling salts’ create a lot of smells,” Boras quipped. “And the market has definitely woken up.”

Boras said Burnes’ stock also rose after he went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA for the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East last season after spending his first six years with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“It remains the ‘Corbin rip-off’ of its previous seasons,” Boras said. “It’s the foundation of being No. 1.”

Boras said: “I think last year there was more focus on the aid market. This year it is very clear that; We are very focused on the startup market. “I think the starts will be pretty quick.”

Should LDS be seven games?

Boras believes the MLB Division Series should be best-of-seven instead of best-of-five like the LCS and World Series.

“This play-off structure is too rigid for the first five games,” says Boras. “We have to stop burning out our beautiful young arms, which we never do over the course of a season.

“We have a playoff system that really undermines what teams do in the development of their players and how they manage them throughout the season, putting them out there four, five, six days in a row. That’s their future. They train them. There’s no shuttle and 98(-mph) ) they throw speed, but they are used in the bullpen… We need to get back to the seven (game) so the starts become uniform and we don’t drain our young bullpen arms.

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