Bears News: It's official: Mets sign Juan Soto to record-breaking $765 million deal |
FLUSHING, N.Y., December 11, 2024 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed outfielder Juan Soto to a 15-year major league contract with a club option and contingent player opt-out after the 2029 season.
“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets Owners Steve and Alex Cohen said. “Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree. Our Amazin’ fan base is very excited to welcome Juan to Queens. Congratulations, Juan.” “Today’s signing further solidifies our organizational commitment to consistent championship competitiveness,” said Mets President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns. “Not only does Juan provide historic levels of on field production, but his joy, intensity, and passion for the game mirror our budding culture. We are thrilled to add him to our team and look forward to watching his excellence for years to come.” Over a seven-year major league career with the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals, Soto has posted a .285/.421/.532 slashline with 655 runs, 179 doubles, 15 triples, 201 home runs, 592 RBI, 57 steals and a 36.4 career bWAR in 936 games. He has won the Silver Slugger Award five times (2020-24), finished in the top 10 in MVP voting five times (2019-21, 2023-24) and won the National League batting title after batting .351 (54-154) in 2020. In addition, the four-time All-Star (2021-24) was the winner of the 2022 Home Run Derby. Since he made his major league debut on May 15, 2018, Soto leads the major leagues in walks (769), times on base (1,719) and on-base percentage (.421), and ranks fourth in OPS (.953), sixth in RBI (592) and seventh in both SLG (.532) and home runs (201). The native of the Dominican Republic has led MLB in free passes three times in his career 2023 - (132), 2022 (135) and 2021 (145). He became the first player to lead the major leagues in three straight seasons since Barry Bonds did so in four straight seasons from 2001-04. Soto has recorded at least 100 walks in five of his six 162-game seasons (2019, 2021-24). He joins Babe Ruth (10), Barry Bonds (10), Ted Williams (eight), Eddie Yost (seven) and Eddie Stanky (four) as one of six players in major league history to record at least 125 walks in four different seasons. In 157 games with the Yankees last season, the outfielder batted .288/.419/.569 with 128 runs, 31 doubles, four triples, 41 home runs, 109 RBI and 129 walks. He ranked second in the majors in OBP (.419), walks (129) and runs (128), third in OPS (.989), fourth in SLG (.569) and home runs (41), sixth in bWAR (7.9), tied for sixth in RBI (109) and ninth in total bases (328). He set career highs in runs, hits (166), home runs, total bases and extra-base hits (76), all while finishing third in AL MVP voting. The left-handed hitter has played 35 games at Citi Field and hit .333 (39-117) with 29 runs, six doubles, one triple, 12 homers, 26 RBI, 28 walks with a .466 OBP, a .709 SLG and a 1.175 OPS. On August 12, 2020, as a member of the Nationals, Soto belted the longest home run of his career at Citi Field, traveling 466 feet. That ranks as the fourth-longest home run at Citi Field in the Statcast era (since 2015). The 26-year-old has appeared in 43 Postseason games and owns a .281/.389/.538 slashline with 31 runs, eight doubles, 11 home runs, 30 RBI, two steals with a .927 OPS. He was a member of the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals, batting .333 (9-27) with six runs, two doubles, three home runs and seven RBI in the Fall Classic. In 2024, Soto played in 14 Postseason games, batting .327 (16-49) with 12 runs, three doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, 14 walks with a 1.101 OPS. Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Nationals on July 2, 2015, Soto made his major league debut with Washington at the age of 19 in 2018. He went on to hit .292/.406/.517 with 25 doubles, one triple, 22 home runs, 70 RBI and a .923 OPS to finish second in the National League Rookie of the Year ballot.
