While speaking with Keyshawn Johnson on his All Facts, No Brakes podcast, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty discussed Juan Soto's upcoming free agent contract and how it will upend the player value market.
“(Juan Soto) should make $600 million. He’s 26, you look at what Bryce made, $330M. It's the same type of timeline. Bryce should’ve made more money, but that was, I don’t know how many years ago that was, but now you fast forward, you’ve got Juan Soto. Just based on everything else, I mean he should make $600 million.
“He should completely reset the market on everything. You know, we don’t work on a salary cap, so all the market values on everyone should keep going up, and they kind of have become stagnant a little bit where no one has really made that crazy jump to where everybody else now makes more, and Soto should make that jump.”
Well, technically, Shohei Ohtani's contract last year reset the market. He's a special case as Ohtani is a two-way player, so Flaherty is speaking about “normal” players like Soto.
Will Dodgers reset market with Soto or will he sign elsewhere?
The latest MLB rumors, per Yahoo's Russell Dorsey, point to Soto staying in New York, either with the Yankees or joining the Mets.
“Industry sources tell Yahoo Sports that the expectation around the league is that the 26-year-old superstar will likely stay in New York, either re-signing with the Yankees or joining the Mets in Queens,” Dorsey reported. “While some see the Yankees as having the inside track on Soto’s services after their trip to the World Series, the bigger appeal of the Yankees lies in their ability to pair Soto with Aaron Judge for the rest of Judge’s career.”
Scott Boras, Soto's agent, believes his client really enjoyed playing with the Yankees and would like to stay with the franchise while testing the free agency market.
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“We certainly have a lot of interest, and it’s a very fun time for Juan,” Boras said. “Playing in New York was comfortable. He really, really enjoyed his teammates, the Yankee experience. Juan loves winning…Juan Soto wants ownership that he knows is going to support an opportunity to win annually.”
The Dodgers have a lot of talent in their lineup and will likely look for more pitching as they've been linked to their pursuit of Phillies' Garrett Crochet and Giants' Blake Snell. Los Angeles is also rumored to be in talks with Walker Buehler about a long-term deal.
The biggest acquisition for the Dodgers this offseason may not even be in the league yet as Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki is likely to make the jump to Major League Baseball next year.
