Source – Superstar Juan Soto nears free agency decision

LOS ANGELES – Juan Soto’s much-hyped free agency is nearing its final stage, and a source familiar with the process is opening up the possibility that the star player could choose his destination by the end of this week – before the start of the annual winter meetings .

Industry agents and executives will come to Dallas this Sunday. Soto is widely expected to sign a record-breaking contract before they leave the following Thursday and could do so before they even arrive, an industry source told ESPN on Tuesday.

Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, declined to provide a definitive timetable.

“When you go through these things, you just have a lot of information to digest,” Boras said of Soto while attending Blake Snell’s introductory news conference at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. “We’ve had meetings with a number of franchises. He’s started the process of eliminating teams and doing things. Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see. I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future.”

The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are the five known candidates for Soto, whose deal is expected to exceed $600 million and could span 15 years to push the value to unprecedented levels. Shohei Ohtani secured the largest guarantee in baseball history with the 10-year, $700 million deal he signed with the Dodgers last season. But more than 95% of Ohtani’s contract is deferred, bringing the current value down to $460 million for luxury tax purposes.

Soto’s deal could exceed that — and will serve as the latest example of the free agent market moving much faster this winter. Last offseason, four of Boras’ most high-profile clients — Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bellinger — remained unsigned in spring training. Before this year’s winter meetings, Boras has already reached agreements for Snell and fellow starting pitchers Yusei Kikuchi, Frankie Montas and Matthew Boyd.

Soto, who at 26 is already one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, could follow before long.

Asked why teams seem more willing to spend this offseason, Boras said, “I wish I could answer those questions. I do. I think a lot of it has to do with media security, platforms that work as they should, and The streaming thing that they have going on is very viable, very profitable, I don’t think they like to say that, but of course the markets indicate that there is a different attitude to what it is.

“And also, who’s in the market has a lot to do with things as well. You’ve got big market franchises, you’ve got generational talent, which really illustrates the needs.”