Juan Soto agrees to record contract with Mets (sources)

Juan Soto and the Mets agreed to a record 15-year, $765 million deal Sunday night at the start of the winter meetings in Dallas, sources told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the agreement.

Soto’s deal will top the 10-year, $700 million contract two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani signed last offseason with the Dodgers — at the time, the largest deal in MLB history.

Soto’s deal includes no deferrals and a $75 million signing bonus, according to a source. The Mets’ highest offer surpassed that of the Yankees, who rode Soto’s bat to the World Series in 2024 and offered him $760 million over 16 years, per source. The average annual value of the Mets’ deal ($51 million) topped their crosstown rivals’ average annual value ($47.5 million) by $3.5 million.

Soto was arguably the best player available in free agency this winter — not just because of what he accomplished in 2024 with the Yankees, but his first seven MLB seasons have put him on a fast track to the Hall of Fame.

After being traded from San Diego to New York last December, Soto hit a career-best 41 home runs with the Bronx Bombers in 2024. He also established single-season career highs in runs scored (128), extra-base hits (76) ) and bWAR (7.9). Those numbers were first, fifth and fifth in the American League, respectively.

Soto was equally impressive in the postseason, hitting .327 with a 1.102 OPS over 64 plate appearances. He belted four homers during the playoffs, including a go-ahead three-run dinger in the 10th inning of ALCS Game 5 vs. Guardians, who powered the Yankees to their first pennant in 15 years.

But long before his latest heroics, the 26-year-old Soto had already established himself as one of the most gifted hitters in baseball history. In more than 4,000 career plate appearances, he owns a .285/.421/.532 slash line. His on-base percentage is the best among active Major Leaguers.

His 160 career OPS+ ranks eighth in MLB history among players through their age-25 season (minimum 3,000 PA). The seven names ahead of Soto are either enshrined in Cooperstown or headed for future enshrinement: Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Jimmie Foxx, Albert Pujols, Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby. Only Mantle and Foxx had a better career OBP than Soto at that age.

Soto began his pro career with the Nationals, who signed him as an international free agent in 2015. Three years later—and after playing a total of eight games above High-A—the 19-year-old Soto was called up to the majors. He began that season as MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 prospect in baseball. He closed it with 22 home runs and a .923 OPS over 494 plate appearances. That remains the best single-season OPS by a teenager in MLB history (min. 400 PA).

The left-handed wunderkind hit 34 home runs in 2019 — the most by a 20-year-old in the National League since Frank Robinson’s 38 homers in 1956 — but his most impactful long balls came during the World Series. Soto went deep three times in the ’19 Fall Classic, including a majestic go-ahead homer off Astros ace Justin Verlander in Game 6. Soto picked up two more hits in Game 7 en route to the franchise’s first championship.

Soto led all players in on-base percentage (.490) and slugging percentage (.695) during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He took home the first of his five Silver Slugger Awards at the end of the year. After another stellar 2021 campaign — a .999 OPS and an NL-best 7.1 bWAR — Soto was sent to the Padres ahead of the 2022 Trade Deadline in a swap that gave the rebuilding Nats a number of highly ranked prospects. Soto collected 83 extra-base hits in 750 at-bats with San Diego before he was on the road again last winter.