The Big Lead

Juan Soto's reported 15-year, $765 Million Mets Contract proves they're New York's new top team

By Sam Westmoreland

Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) before playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) before playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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For the first time ever, the Mets have proven themselves to have the upper hand over the Yankees. And all it took was a truly historic contract.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Mets signed superstar outfielder (and former Yankee) Juan Soto to a staggering 15-year, $765 million contract on Sunday night. The deal has no deferrals, meaning he's getting all of it up front, has an opt out after five seasons, and is the largest contract in total money in professional sports history. Only Shohei Ohtani's contract approaches it, and with his deferrals of money, Soto blows him out of the water.

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But this contract is more than just a watershed moment in professional sports as a whole; more specifically, it's the sign of a massive change in the sports landscape: the Mets are now the Yankees, and the Yankees are now a shell of their former selves.

Set aside the amount of money involved in this deal for a minute, and think back to the halcyon days of George Steinbrenner. If he had a player on his roster who was the second coming of Ted Williams, a 26-year-old megastar who was the best, most cerebral hitter of his generation, do you think he would let him leave pinstripes at any point in his career? Absolutely not. And would he have let that player leave for the Mets? There's no way on Earth he'd let that happen.

But these aren't the George Steinbrenner Yankees. Hal has shown himself to be much tighter with his purse strings than George ever was, and now he's let a true, proven generational talent slip through his fingers.

Meanwhile, in Queens, we have Steinbrenner's heir apparent in Mets owner Steve Cohen. A man so hell-bent on winning a title that he's willing to throw almost a quarter of a billion dollars at a single player to do it.

Will Soto live up to the deal? At this stage it's impossible to say; this is the kind of money that few players could ever dream of living up to, and the expectations for the outfielder in Queens next year are going to be astronomical. If there's someone who can fulfill those expectations, it's Soto.

But at the same time, regardless of how the contract ages, one thing has become clear: the Mets are the new kings of New York City. They're the ones willing to spend, willing to push and scrap and do what needs to be done to try and build a winning team. It's not the Yankees, who are now staring at a swiftly aging roster with a plethora of holes that have gone from "minor concerns" with Soto to "massive, glaring issues" without him.

So, for today at least, give Cohen his crown. He's driven the final nail into the coffin of the Yankees' dominance, and begun a new era where the Mets are the focal point. They'll be the center of attention, all eyes on Queens.

Now, the real work begins, and the Mets and Soto will have to live up to the hype that comes with that deal.

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