None of us knows anything about where Juan Soto will sign.
If you, as a fan of the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox or Blue Jays are frustrated by this, take comfort in the fact that the teams involved are similarly in the dark.
“I don’t think anyone knows where Juan wants to play except for Juan and [agent Scott] Boras, and maybe Juan’s family,” says one well-placed league source.
Even Yankees people, who like Soto personally and felt connected with him over the course of the year, claim no insight into the depths of his head and heart.
At the outset of the offseason, SNY reported that the incumbent Yanks had a slight advantage, if the offers were close. That reporting was an accurate reflection of what the few people who truly know Soto heard from him, but we don’t claim that it’s anything more than that. We can also see advantages for the Mets, whose strong leadership team is beginning what will likely be a long run of stability and growth.
What we don’t know — what virtually no one can honestly claim to know — is how Soto is weighing these factors.
Last week did little to clarify the situation. The Soto sweepstakes appeared to have slowed for at least a day or two over the extended Thanksgiving weekend. As of Monday morning, there were no known follow-up visits scheduled with teams.
Why the lack of action?
For one, Boras does not need publicity to land for Soto the largest contract in the history of the sport. With the Blue Jays, Mets, Red Sox, and Yankees widely perceived to be financially aggressive, it’s hard to see a strategic purpose in conducting this business in public.
It’s no secret that the Yanks and Mets are “all in” on Soto, as one league source reiterates, and that there is a widespread belief among bidders that Toronto will come in with the highest offer.
There is also widespread skepticism that Soto would go to the Blue Jays — but a source pushed back on that, saying that if a team is involved in the final bidding, Soto is willing to play there. That tracks with the above point that Team Soto has no need to inflate the perception of his market by adding teams that aren’t legitimately in it.
It has been a bit easier for teams to guess at the timing of this process than at Soto’s choice of teams. Since the beginning, there has been a widespread expectation that the bidding would pick up this week and resolve by or at the Winter Meetings next week. That expectation remains.
Everything else?
We don’t know. And neither do most people.
