Dec. 9 (UPI) — Juan Soto is staying in New York, but opted to turn in his New York Yankees pinstripes for New York Mets threads after agreeing to a record $765 million contract in free agency.
Sources told MLB.com, ESPN and The Athletic about the 15-year pact on Sunday. The deal, which includes a $75 million signing bonus and no deferred funds, can’t become official until the All-Star outfielder passes a physical.
Soto could increase the total value of the contract to more than $800 million if he chooses to decline an opt out clause after five years, pushing his annual salary from $51 million to $55 million.
Soto, 26, hit .288 with a career-high 41 home runs and 109 RBIs over 157 games last season for the Yankees. He also scored an American League-best 128 runs en route to his fourth All-Star selection.
Soto joined the Yankees through a 2023 trade from the San Diego Padres. He hit .285 with 201 home runs and 592 RBIs through his first seven seasons.
He led MLB in walks three times and hit a National League-best .351 for the Washington Nationals in the 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign. Soto finished second in National League MVP voting a season later, when he hit .313 with 29 home runs and 95 RBIs, with an MLB-best .465 on-base percentage and 145 walks.
The Nationals traded the star outfielder to the Padres in 2022.
Soto is now set to join a Mets lineup that also features All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, first baseman Mark Vientos and left fielder Brandon Nimmo, among others. All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso, a fixture of the Mets over the last six seasons, remains a free agent.
The Mets starting rotation is also set to include former Yankees closer Clay Holmes, who agreed to join the team last week in free agency. He will join fellow newcomer Frankie Montas, who spent last season with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.
The Mets went 89-73 last season and reached the National League Championship Series for just the second time since 2006. They won their last World Series in 1986.
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