Phillies picked as surprise dark horse in upcoming Juan Soto sweepstakes

Juan Soto is a perennial MVP candidate each year he takes the diamond. What he is able to do at the plate are things that people only can explain as generational talent. His talents have been compared to the likes of Ted Williams with his savant nature in the batter's box and ability to consistently get on base.

The 25-year-old is only looking better with each passing year and has built quite a resume for himself even before his arbitration years expire. In already his seventh major league season, Soto has accumulated four All-Star selections, four Silver Slugger Awards and in his sophomore campaign, contributed to the Washington Nationals' first World Series title in 2019. Soto has finished top-10 in MVP voting four times and is challenging for another finalist spot in 2024. He has a career slash line of .286/.421/.535 with an impressive .956 OPS and 198 career home runs.

Soto was traded to the Yankees last winter and has since settled into the lineup quite nicely, hitting in front of home run king Aaron Judge. Even in a win-now year for the Yankees, nothing can prevent Soto's agent Scott Boras from doing what he does best: avoiding extension talks and getting his client to free agency.

Phillies picked as surprise dark horse in upcoming Juan Soto sweepstakes

Scott Boras beats to his own drum with his high profile being built on getting his clients paid at a premium price. Juan Soto will be the ultimate prize in free agency. Some MLB experts are already predicting where Soto could end up in 2025 and beyond. MLB.com's Sarah Langs pitched the idea of the Philadelphia Phillies being a dark horse.

"I love the idea of Philly," Langs said. "I have no idea how realistic it is, but the idea of Soto/Harper together again and this time winning together would be amazing. Citizens Bank Park is very hitter-friendly. Consider this: Soto has 37 homers right now. If he played all his games (obviously not realistic but bear with me) there, he would have 45 based on all fly balls he has hit this year."

Langs could be on to something as Harper and Soto were teammates in 2018 in Washington and would be another addition of a National to the Phillies' roster. The Phillies could entice the young star, and we know that Harper will do his best to convince him. The biggest hurdle will be managing partner John Middleton's willingness to commit another massive deal to the already inflated Phillies payroll.

Langs later mentioned a more fun side to bringing in Soto.

"I will go Phillies for the reasons I stated above," she said. "And because I feel like the Phanatic would have a great reaction after "rooting against him" since 2018."

The realistic idea of taking on another massive contract would be the biggest hurdle. If the Phillies were to sign Soto, expect the deal to be in the "hundreds of millions" neighborhood and most likely be active contract number three of $300+ million. With no serious money coming off the books for a few more years, it would be up to Middleton if he's willing to bring in another massive free agent and hit another tier of the payroll luxury tax.