Free agency is an any man's game. Players and their respective agents work as a collective and spend weeks or even months dedicating themselves to fielding calls and eventual offers until a magic number is agreed upon.
It's the agent's job to market the player accordingly and drum up business so their client has a suitable home come springtime. Few agents in baseball have the pull or resources quite like super-agent Scott Boras.
Boras has become widely known for record-setting contracts for his players in free agency. Since he created and became the owner of the baseball-only sports agency Boras Corporation, he has turned his team into quite the machine. He encourages players to go through the arbitration process and hit the free agent market with large contracts in mind, usually with opt-outs built in to give the player additional money and flexibility.
Scott Boras just gave Phillies fans hope with his latest message about Juan Soto
Boras now has Juan Soto in the open market and is not shy about making it known. Soto is not just any player. He is a 26-year-old superstar with four All-Stars and Silver Sluggers with a batting title already to his name. He is the definition of a pillar of a franchise, and Boras will certainly sell every bit of that. He will take his time as he does every year to give his client the best possible deal, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
One thing that is discussed at length just days into the process is what the priority looks like for Soto in signing his awaited long-term deal.
Juan Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, said Soto is prioritizing any team owner who is committed to “winning.” With the right amount of $$$, of course
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) November 6, 2024
New York Yankees beat writer Erik Boland of Newsday Sports relayed Boras' comments about Soto's priorities this winter. The good news for the Phillies is that winning is the only thing that matters at this point. The Phillies also have deep enough pockets to get the job done.
Boras' way of dealing with his players can paint a very black-and-white image, but as long as teams truly want to win, they'll have a legitimate chance to make the marriage work, apparently. Whether Boras will dangle the carrot to force teams into a bidding war and possibly drive up the price until the negotiating starts at $600 million.
Another upside is the Phillies' familiarity with Boras. The Phillies have signed multiple Boras clients before, most notably when Bryce Harper waited until March 1, 2019, to officially sign with Philadelphia. The Phillies also have Bohm, Stott and Andrew Painter currently under the Boras umbrella.
If Boras means what he says, the Phillies can hammer out a deal. For now, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has been playing coy on the Soto situation (subscription required), per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. However, that will change as the winter marches on. Boras is a businessman and he gets the most out of his players to fetch their massive paydays. The Phillies want to win just as badly as the hungry Yankees and New York Mets.
Reports have been speculating that Soto could sign during this year's MLB Winter Meetings in Dallas, TX. The Winter Meetings have turned into the Scott Boras show in years past, with him holding court over any number of his free agents. Don't be surprised if this year is no different, given the magnitude of the player he's advocating for this offseason.