Sunday, December 8 around 9:00 PM at the 2024 Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas, Juan Soto signed the largest contract in Major League Baseball history. He agreed to a fifteen-year deal with the Mets for $765 million total, ($65 million more than Shohei Ohtani, who previously had the largest contract) with an average annual value of $51 million. The contract includes a full no-trade clause, a $75 million signing bonus, no deferred money and an opt-out clause for Soto after the 2029 season, which the Mets can potentially void by increasing the AAV to $55 million for the remaining ten years of the contract.
Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns is only in his second year with the team, yet he continues to show that he’s more than willing to spend for a championship. Even after signing Soto, who spent 2023 with the New York Yankees, Clay Holmes, Jose Siri and Frankie Montas, he and owner Steve Cohen appear far from finished spending. After signing Soto at the Winter Meetings, Stearns explained that the Mets “have a lot of work to do but continue to have the resources.” Despite a large tax likely coming for spending over the salary cap, the Mets appear involved with longtime Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. It isn’t known which teams are likely to go after Alonso the most, but the Mets are expected to offer the thirty-year-old slugger a deal with an AAV over $20 million.
The Mets are expected to offer the thirty-year-old slugger a deal with an AAV over $20 million (Source: Brad Penner)
Stearns will also look to add one or more starting pitchers for 2025. As of the end of the Winter Meetings, the Mets are engaged in talks with Sean Manaea, Nick Pivetta and Walker Buehler. The Mets will likely sign one of these three to a two-or-three-year deal, but with average starters Nathan Eovaldi, Yusei Kikuchi and Luis Severino receiving $75 million, $69 million and $67 million for three years each, the Mets would likely need to pay any of them more than $25 million per year.
Last season, then-twenty-five-year-old dominant starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto came from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and signed a twelve-year $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. twenty-three-year-old starter Roki Sasaki has been equally dominant in Japan since 2021, posting a 2.02 ERA, and was recently posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines and will be an MLB starter in 2025. However, since he’s under twenty-five-years-old, his contract can be no larger than $25 million total. This threshold gives all teams, regardless of market, an opportunity to go after the ace. Literally every team is interested with Sasaki currently, but his 45-day negotiation window ends January 23.
Roki Sasaki has until January 23 to sign with an MLB team (source: Eric Espada)
The Yankees lost a star in Soto but have since made multiple moves to combat the loss. They signed the most underrated pitcher in baseball, Max Fried, to an eight-year deal worth $218 million. Despite fellow starter Gerrit Cole making more money, Fried, a longtime Atlanta Braves starter, will be the ace of the Yankees this season and beyond. Since his rookie year in 2017, Fried has pitched to an ERA of 3.07.
Max Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million deal with the Yankees (Source: Matthew Grimes Jr.)
After losing star closer Clay Holmes, also to the Mets, the Yankees traded for Milwaukee Brewers closer, Devin Williams. Though they gave up a promising prospect in Caleb Durbin and a competent starter in Nestor Cortes Jr., Williams is the best closer in MLB, with a career 1.83 ERA, and will be a major reason for the Yankees’ success (or failure) in 2025, on the last year of his contract.
Having lost Soto and with infielder Gleyber Torres unlikely to resign, the Yankees will also look to add a bat going forward. Likely an outfielder, the Yankees have shown interest in Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernandez and Jurickson Profar. None of these free agents would provide anywhere near the offense that Soto provided for them. However, the Yankees must sign one of them, as their lineup, other than Aaron Judge, looks like a lineup the Sacramento Athletics might run out in July.
With more signings coming, New York Baseball is poised for a big 2025, with deep playoff runs projected for the Mets and Yankees. Though neither team will win the World Series, both teams have made additions to play meaningful baseball games in mid-October.
