In an interview Wednesday morning on 106.7, the fan's The Junkies, The Junkies interviewed MLB insider Jon Heyman about Heyman's recent sit-down with Juan Soto's agent Scott Boras. Boras was recently a guest on Heyman's podcast: "The Show: A NY Post Baseball Podcast." There was a lot to unpack from the interview. Still, the main takeaway was that Heyman believes that Scott Boras wants.
“The issue with the Nationals' $440 million extension offer that Juan Soto turned down clearly isn't simply the dollar amount. That's a boatload of money and would represent the largest contract in baseball. I would think that the value of the contract is the key," Heyman told The Sports Junkies. "I wouldn't say getting to free agency; I would say getting the value that they think is market value, the appropriate value. I would think that's number one. He didn't put it that way. He certainly mentioned the fact that he doesn't know who the owner's going to be. The owner, frankly, is leaving the Nats, so it's probably difficult to blame Soto for not doing everything he can to stay with the Nats."
Heyman continued, " But I think it's about the value of the contract and the money. Obviously this is enough money for Juan Soto and all of his descendants forever, pretty much, but these guys are all competitive, and they all want the appropriate contract, and nobody wants to be underpaid, even if you're paid enough money to live as fabulously as you want to live."
"So was there a deal that Juan would have signed," Bishop asked. "Ten years, $500 million?"
"Well he says $43 million," Bickel said
Even Bishop from the Junkies mentioned that no owner is going to be willing to pay that much money for one player: "But no owner in sports, no owner in the history of the world is gonna give someone 13 years, 15 years at $43 million a pop,"
During the interview, the Sports Junkies pressed Heyman on this very point, "It sounds like the number that you need to hit needs to start with a <em>six</em> if you want to get Juan," Bickel noted to Heyman. "Because 43 times 15 is 645.... Who's gonna pay that?" Bishop said. "That's nuts."
"He doesn't name the number. He doesn't say it," Heyman clarified of Boras' comments. "You'd have to listen to the podcast to get the exact thought of what it is. But that's the impression that I drew, that he's got the $43 million on the... someone has received $43 million. Max Scherzer, your former player. And some players are at that age who get exceedingly long contracts."
Honestly, this is pure craziness on the part of Team Soto to expect that any baseball team is willing to pay that much money for one player, even if it is Juan Soto. As much as I would love for Juan Soto to be a Washington National for his entire career, paying one player a significant amount of money would seriously handcuff the Nationals' and any team. Soto and Boras need to realize that the Scherzer contract with the New York Mets was an outlier, not a contract that will re-setting the market.
The Nationals, Boras and Soto should pay attention to the contract that Aaron Judge will receive this off-season as he hits free agency. The Judge's contract is what should re-set the market. Until then, the Nationals should hold Soto, and if a contract can't be reached after Judge, then that is the time to trade him. This all could change if and when the new owners of the Washington Nationals decide on what to do with Juan Soto.
Either way, keep Soto for this year.