The Juan Soto sweepstakes began as a 30-team race after Soto stated he would be checking in on every possible destination. But this quickly dropped to less than 10 teams just seconds after that statement left his mouth. As the offseason began, the field further dropped to six teams, those being the teams that reportedly had meetings with Soto: the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has reported the field has dropped even lower, all the way down to four teams. “There really are only four teams that are seriously in play for Soto: The Mets, the Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox,” Nightengale wrote. According to his report, the Dodgers and Phillies were never quite that involved anyway. The Dodgers checked in with Soto just because he was right down the street in California, while it appears as though the Phillies never actually had a formal meeting with the superstar.
Either way, these are the four teams that everybody expected to find as the finalists in the Soto sweepstakes. Everybody also expects it to come down to the Yankees and the Mets, though I wouldn’t rule out the Red Sox or Blue Jays until they drop out themselves.
With these huge markets aggressively pursuing Soto, his price will only drive up. I imagine him seeing a contract worth well over $600 million over the next few weeks.
