Getty Juan Soto has called the Red Sox his “favorite team” growing up.

After Juan Soto met with the Boston Red Sox for a reported three hours on Thursday evening, a Spanish-language YouTube channel unearthed video of an interview in which Soto praises Boston as his favorite MLB team.

The channel, El Padi TV, posted an excerpt of the video to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. Reports of the 26-year-old free agent slugger’s meeting with the Red Sox characterized Soto as “impressed” with Boston’s presentation, and called the meeting “productive.”

“After learning that Juan Soto was impressed by the three-hour presentation by the Boston Red Sox last night, we want to share a special memory with you,” El Padi TV said in its X posting, which included the video. “In an exclusive interview, Juan revealed that his favorite teams are the Boston Red Sox and the Tigres del Licey. His admiration for the Red Sox comes from the influence of Dominican players Manny Ramírez, David Ortiz, and Pedro Martínez, while his love for the Tigres del Licey stems from childhood memories of the championships he enjoyed.”

Tigres del Licey is a team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League located in Soto’s home city of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s capital. The team is the oldest franchise in the Dominican league and its 11 championships are a record for that league.

Red Sox Sell Soto on History of Dominican Stars

As part of their presentation to Soto on Thursday, according to a report by longtime Red Sox beat writer and columnist Sean McAdam, the Red Sox delegation headed by team Chair and part-owner Tom Werner highlighted the team’s history of Dominican stars.

Current Red Sox third baseman and three-time All Star Rafael Devers became the face of the franchise when he signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract prior to the 2023 season. Devers is also a native of the Dominican Republic.

The Red Sox World Series-winning team of 2004 — the Red Sox first championship squad since 1918 — was headlined by the three Dominican players mentioned by El Padi TV in its X post: Ramirez, Ortiz and Martinez. While Martinez departed the Red Sox in free agency following the 2004 season, Ramirez remained with the Red Sox through their next world championship in 2007. He was traded to the Dodgers in 2008, eventually finishing his 19-year career with 555 home runs, placing him 15th and the MLB all-time leader board.

Ortiz, also a Santo Domingo native, remained with the Red Sox until his retirement after the 2016 season. He won a third World Series title with the Red Sox in 2013.

The Red Sox group that met with Soto on Tuesday also included team President Sam Kennedy, Chief of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow, and Manager Alex Cora who is a native of Puerto Rico.

Money Never Came Up in Meeting with Soto

The meeting with Soto was intended only to introduce the player to the Boston organization and its history. According to McAdam, the subject of money or other contract terms never came up.

McAdam said that the Red Sox interest in Soto appears to be serious, as evidenced by the fact that top team executives were willing to fly across the country. The Boston front office understands that they will need to make an offer in the range of $500 million to $600 million “to even get Soto’s attention.” Soto, McAdam said, will not be content simply to get an offer that makes him more highly paid than Devers.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin