The Mets needed a win to keep their chance of returning to the playoffs alive. However, the victory against the Chicago Cubs would only serve to disguise the complicated campaign that the team has had along with its top players, one of them undoubtedly being Juan Soto, who spoke about what he had to do to sign the maximum salary in MLB after signing with New York.
Soto has been everything the Mets could have hoped for in his first year. He is hitting .267/.399/.532 with 42 home runs and 36 stolen bases, the most of his career. He has 104 RBIs, which is just five shy of his career high. Soto has played 155 games so far, so he still has plenty of numbers to figure out.
“Many sacrifices to be where I am” – Juan Soto on signing with Mets
During an interview with Enrique Rojas and Juan Arturo Recio (ESPN), the Dominican opened up about what many believe his contract meant and what he really had to do to achieve the largest contract in MLB history. Soto, after rejecting offers from the Yankees and Red Sox, decided to sign with the New York Mets.
“Many people may think that I didn’t work as hard, that everything came easy and fell from the sky, but behind all this there is a lot of work and effort,” Soto said. “A lot of focus and sacrifices to be where I am today. The talent and staying power we’re going to have. That’s a tremendous team we have with the Mets; all the talent is young,” the outfielder said.
Juan Soto’s $765 million deal surpasses Shohei Ohtani
On December 8, 2024, it was reported that 26-year-old Juan Soto signed a record-breaking contract worth $765 million over 15 years with the New York Mets. This figure surpassed Shohei Ohtani’s contract. The Japanese player’s deal with the Dodgers was for $700 million over 10 years, also a crazy signing
The deal Soto got will have a long-term impact on MLB free agency as a whole. The outfielder can opt out of the deal after the 2029 season unless the Mets increase his average annual salary by $4 million at that time, which would bring the total to $805 million over 15 years.
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