As we learned yesterday (Sunday), it is this week that Juan Soto will finally receive offers from teams who are ready to reach deep into their pockets to acquire his services.
MLB owners and general managers are confident the Dominican will sign his lucrative pact no later than the end of the winter meetings. We will therefore not relive the situation of last year or even that of 2019, when Bryce Harper and Manny Machado patiently waited at spring camp to come out of their hibernation.
So it is from this week that we will separate the men from the children. However, a few children already seem to have left the neighborhood park.
Indeed, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, there are only four teams that are seriously in the running for Soto, namely the two New York teams, the Mets and the Yankees, as well as the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox.
As the reporter mentions, the Los Angeles Dodgers just won a World Series without the star outfielder, and it wasn’t exactly difficult to cross town to meet Soto and his agent Scott Boras. The meeting may only have served to drive up the price for Soto.
In the case of the Philadelphia Phillies, it’s probably too little too late in the process for Dave Dombrowski to pull a rabbit out of his hat. They wanted to evolve in the shadows and they will stay there.
Certainly, the Mets remain the favorites according to what major baseball executives say, simply because they do not believe that anyone will be able to outbid owner Steve Cohen.
Especially since for their part, the Yankees would have a price in mind that they do not want to exceed. Yet just last week, owner Hal Steinbrenner said he would have no problem matching Cohen’s offer.
It smells more and more like Juan Soto in a blue, white and orange uniform…
Canada
