Juan Soto won’t be a free agent until 2025, so the Washington Nationals still have a lot of time to come to an agreement with their young sensation. She currently has no contract in her pocket, but is eligible for arbitration.
That said, the team still wants to settle the case quickly. Prior to the lockout, Washington offered Soto a 13-year/$350 million contract. “Only $350 million”…
Obviously, the principal concerned refused the offer.
Juan Soto turned down a 13-year, $350 million contract from the Washington Nationals before the lockout, according to this @Enrique_Rojas1 report. In the story, Soto confirms the offer.
More from Enrique at @ESPNDeportes: https://t.co/zNnlWTb9Rd
—Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 16, 2022
Soto deserves a lot more than $350 million. The guy deserves at least $450 million.
For now, my agents and I think the best option is to go year to year and wait for range. My agent, Scott Boras, is in control of this situation. -Juan Soto
If he had accepted the offer of Nats, he would have been the 20th highest-paid player in MLB annually.
My colleague, Marc-Olivier Cook, talked about a $500 million contract last November. And honestly, I’m more than okay with such an amount of money. Soto is the best hitter in the league in my opinion, his defensive game improves every year; he is truly a complete player that Washington cannot pass up.
At $500 million, he would be by far the highest paid player in history. Mike Trout currently leads in this category ($426.5 million). Does Soto want to become the highest paid? It would be, among other things, for this reason that he refused the offer of his team.
If so, could a $430 million contract do the trick?
Either way, Soto wants to stay in Washington.
Either way, in my mind, Washington remains where I would like to spend the rest of my career. We will see. -Juan Soto
According to Bob Nightengale, Juan Soto received his $350 million over the 13-year period. The contract did not include any carryover of money, therefore. However, it is customary to pay an athlete over a longer period when he signs a mega contract.
In such cases, the athlete may be paid over a period of 26 years, for example, but he still becomes a free agent when the term of the contract expires (13 years in the case of Soto).
Tea #nats 13-year, $350 million offer to Juan Soto included no deferrals, which the #Nationals have traditionally done in their mega contracts.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 16, 2022
