Major League Baseball free agency is just a couple of weeks old at this point. Free agency can bring a long winter with little or no action for weeks at a time. That also means storylines can flip at any point.
Juan Soto is the most riveting free agent on the market. Ever since he declined the 15-year, $440 million extension offer by the Nationals, outside teams were made aware that Soto would become another prized Boras free agent as soon as he had the chance at just 26 years old.
John Middleton's lack of confidence in Juan Soto chase shows the writing's on the wall for the Phillies
Moves have already been made to contact the young superstar with calls coming in from over half a dozen teams including, not surprisingly, the New York Mets and New York Yankees. There will be many suitors for Soto's services, but the New York teams appear to have the strongest allure as of now (subscription required), per Conor Smith of The Philadelphia Inquirer. It's not good news for the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I’m afraid Juan Soto wants to be in New York, and I don’t mind being a stalking horse. At some point, if Dave and I get that feeling, we’ll probably say, ‘You know what, we’re not going to win this’ because we’ve both been the stalking horse before,” Phillies managing partner John Middleton said, per Smith. “And if I were an agent, I would do it too. It’s perfectly good strategy. I mean, it’s smart. But at the end of the day, I just think he likes New York.”
It is unfortunate to hear from the Phillies' main talking heads in a deflating way considering reports previously that the Phillies could be a top landing spot for Soto. The first discussion by Middleton regarding Soto ends up being disbelief that Soto will leave New York.
Maybe Middleton is right, and if fans are being honest with themselves, that's where Soto was expected to stay anyway. Who could blame Soto for choosing the Yankees or Mets?
In the Bronx, Soto had the best year of his career with 41 home runs, 106 RBI and a .988 OPS. In Queens, Mets owner Steve Cohen, or as Boras calls him "Steve Kong," has deeper pockets than anyone and has a team set to compete for a championship, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post.
Boras may still try to keep the Phillies involved, as Middleton alluded to. They still greatly need to shake things up in a few different areas on the roster so this same song isn't sung next October. Middleton and Dombrowski are willing to push the payroll past $281 million, so there's still hope that they can pry Soto away from the Big Apple and have the young star suit up in the red pinstripes after all.