On Sunday, as Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings were getting ready to kick off, Boston Red Sox fans on social media appeared to be consumed by pessimsim. “Boston Strong,” a popular Red Sox fan account on X (formerly Twitter) with more than 70,000 followers started the day by posting, “Juan Soto’s decision is down to New York Mets and New York Yankees, per source.”
What the account’s “source” was, it did not say or even hint. But the posting was followed by a series of others that were similarly pessimistic. “Red Sox just never had a chance at getting Soto,” said one online poster.
“Now that the Red Sox have lost out on Soto, it’s clear they have a ton of money to spend,” said another. And so on.
Red Sox Have Not ‘Lost Out on Soto’ — Yet
But early on Sunday afternoon, two veteran Red Sox reporters writing for MassLive, Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo, injected a shot of hope for the Red Sox faithful. The club, they reported, has not in fact been ruled out of the Soto sweepstakes.
“So far, there’s no reason to believe the Red Sox have been eliminated,” the MassLive reporters wrote. “As of early Sunday afternoon, Boston is believed to remain in the mix for Soto with negotiations between the superstar and all interested teams hurdling toward a conclusion.”
The Red Sox management has made an “A+ effort” to bring Soto to Fenway Park, the report said. What it did not say was how much money, and how many years, the Red Sox have offered Soto — or even if Boston has made any final offer to Soto at all.
“It’s unclear if final offers have been requested or submitted, though one person with knowledge of the negotiations said Sunday morning that all sides are ‘at an interesting point in the talks,’” Cotillo and McAdam reported.
The offers for Soto that have been reported — though not independently confirmed — are reaching dizzying proportions — especially from the New York Mets. According to a social media posting by the online business site SpoTrac, “The Mets are reportedly approaching $50 million per year with Juan Soto (15 yrs, $750 million).”
Soto Set to Make More Than One Entire Team in 2025
The SpoTrac post then pointed out that the Florida Marlins will very likely begin the 2025 season “with a 26-man roster that costs less than $50 million.”
According to a report by another longtime baseball insider, Jon Heyman, in The New York Post, both the New York Mets and New York Yankees “remain heavily involved in the five-team Juan Soto Derby, with both clubs recently upping offers into the $710 million-$730 million range — MLB record territory.”
There has been no public indication to date that the Red Sox offer has reached those stratospheric heights. But there also has been no indication that it hasn’t. There simply has been no new information coming out of the Red Sox camp at all. The most recent report, also without independent confirmation, came about a week ago when it was reported that the Red Sox’offer reached $600 million over 12 years.
That proposed contract would also come out to an average annual salary of $50 million for Soto — meaning his decision could come down to whether he wants the security of an addition three years and $150 million more dollars.
