If you’re worth more than $20 billion, as Mets owner Steve Cohen is, then there are surely worse ways to spend $765 million than to sew up Juan Soto to bat in the meat of your order for 15 years. The Mets were determined to outspend anyone for Soto, and in the end, it took an enormous and unexpected financial commitment to get him to head east from the Bronx to Queens.
Remember back in the summer, when $500 million for Soto seemed like an outrageously large projection? Well, here we are.
But the funny thing about Soto is that the very big payout that is being reported might not be the only payout he gets when all is said and done. This contract is not deferred the way Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million with the Dodgers was deferred. This is all present-day money and a lot of it.
If all goes well for him, in fact, the final tally on the contract will not be a mere $765 million–it will be $820 million.
Juan Soto’s Opt-Out Will Cost $40 Million
That’s because of the structure of the deal, as explained by sports contract guru Mike Ginnitti of Spotrac. Speaking on Monday on “The Spotrac Podcast,” Ginnitti explained that Soto will have an opt-out after the 2029 season, and that opt-out, plus other incentives, could make his deal worth about 14% more than what’s being reported.
Here’s how Ginnitti broke it down:
“What we know is this: From a surface level, 15 years, $765 million, none of it deferred. There’s reportedly some escalators, maybe about $15 million built into this thing. There’s an opt out after 2029. The Mets can cancel that opt-out, or I should say, his team can cancel that opt-out, by adding $40 million more to the remaining 10 years.
“So, it’s $765 million now, it can get to $780 million with escalators based on reports, it can get to $820 million if they buy out the opt out. And that’s where we stand.”
Juan Soto did get a signing bonus as part of the deal, worth a whopping $75 million, the most in major league history by a longshot.
Fact is, despite indicating that there would be other factors involved in his decision–a history of winning, the health of the team’s farm system–when it came time to write his name ona contract, Soto went for the biggest contract on the table.
And that contract could yet grow bigger.
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