The Philadelphia Phillies are not in on the Juan Soto sweepstakes.
The Phillies “never met with Juan Soto and are not among the teams who have made an offer to the star outfielder,” Matt Gelb reported for The Athletic.
Gelb’s comment follows a Nov. 25 report from USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale that the Phillies “haven’t had a single conversation with [agent Scott Boras] to express interest in Soto.”
The New York Mets, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers are thought to be the strongest contenders to sign Soto, according to The Athletic. Multiple teams have offered Soto more than $600 million, per The Athletic.
Boras said on Tuesday that Soto has started eliminating some clubs from consideration, but did not specify which teams, per Rosenthal and Drellich.
Soto, who turned 26 in October, is projected to get the second-largest contract in MLB history behind two-way star Shohei Ohtani as he enters free agency after helping lead the New York Yankees to the 2024 World Series.
He recorded a career-high 7.9 wins against replacement and led the AL with 128 runs while batting .288 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI, walking 129 times while recording an on-base percentage of .419 in 157 games last season.
Acquired by the Yankees in a trade with the San Diego Padres in December 2023, Soto has long been expected to sign a blockbuster deal with his next contract. He raised those expectations even higher as he upped his production in the postseason to slash .327/.469/.633 in 14 games.
Every MLB team would like to add a batter as productive as Soto to their lineup, but the Phillies and their top-five payroll seemed likely to be part of the minority of franchises that could afford to be involved in a bidding war for the outfielder this offseason.
But there have been a few early indications that the Phillies don’t plan on setting any records with their free agency offers this winter.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in October that he didn’t see getting a star player this offseason as a “necessity.”
“I don’t think we need to have more star players,” Dombrowski said. “We have as many stars as about anybody in baseball. So I don’t think necessarily that you need to add more.”
When announcing an ownership group expansion in November, managing partner John Middleton said that “it’s hard to go much crazier with the payroll” than the Phillies already have.
The Phillies will look to bolster their batting power elsewhere. A November poll of MLB.com insiders named Philadelphia as the top destination for free agent outfielder Anthony Santander after he recorded a career-high 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles in 2024.
