Juan Soto (26) of the New York Yankees is the biggest free agent market in the 2024-2025 Major League Baseball. He is Soto, one of the best-known players in the league for a long time, and is a gangster. He will turn 27 next year. He can use his prime time much longer.
Soto, who made his Major League debut in Washington D.C. in 2018, has a batting average of 0.285 and an on-base percentage of 0.421, 201 homers, 591 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of 0.953 in 934 games in the Major League. He is an on-base machine with an on-base percentage of over 400, and can expect more than 30 homers every year. It is never easy to find such a player in the history of the Major League.
This year, the team is getting fiercer ahead of the FA. Soto, who was traded to the New York Yankees ahead of this season, is increasing his market value by posting a batting average of 0.288, an on-base percentage of 0.418, 41 homers, 108 RBIs, 128 runs scored, and an OPS of 0.990, in 155 games. Analysts say that Soto, who had already flatly rejected his team’s contract to extend the mid-400 million dollar range when he was a member of the Washington D.C., is certain to have a total of more than 500 million dollars.
In fact, the average of the mock contracts conducted by the “New York Post” for 13 agents was $530 million. John Heyman, a columnist for the “New York Post” and a leading Major League source, predicted on the 20th that “it seems to have exceeded $600 million or is close to it,” when he selected Soto as the biggest FA market. It seems certain to be the second-largest contract ever after the 10-year total of $700 million by Shohei Ohtani (31, LA Dodgers), the largest contract in Major League history.
Attention is focusing on who will take Soto. It is most likely that the Yankees will be the first team to run. The Yankees paid San Diego a considerable price to bring Soto to the team ahead of this season. Then, he checked Soto’s capabilities right next to him, and how valuable he is to the team. In an interview with Heyman, the team’s general manager said, “I would not have traded Soto thinking that I would use him for a year,” signaling that the Yankees will participate in the war.
While the Yankees, one of the richest teams in the league, are certain to offer a large amount of money to win over Soto, Heyman predicts that the rest of the teams will also take advantage of him. Heyman said there is a high possibility that the New York Mets, which will have another wealthy owner, will participate in the match, adding that other teams will also join the match. San Francisco Giants, the team of Lee Jung-hoo (26), has also been selected as one.
Heyman said, “When the Yankees and the San Diego Padres traded Soto, San Francisco also tried to trade Soto,” adding, “San Francisco is one of the potential candidates to bring him in. San Francisco needs to strengthen its outfield seats in addition to Lee Jung-woo and Elliott Ramos, and has some leeway until the tax base for wealthy individuals. As it failed to advance to the postseason this year, it is likely that it will aggressively strengthen its capacity following last year.
Soto played right field, and if San Francisco acquires Soto, it can complete the outfield lineup, which will include center fielder Lee Jung-hoo, right fielder Soto, and left fielder Ramos. It shows that Lee and Soto are both in the outfield. Meanwhile, San Francisco considers Lee to be the leadoff, and if Soto is deployed as the second player, its lineup can be strengthened. Lee Jung-hoo and Soto can be built as a table tennis player. 메이저놀이터
Of course, the Chicago Cubs and the Toronto Blue Jays will also be picked as potential teams besides the Yankees and the San Francisco Giants. Heyman said the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies cannot be excluded. With the recruitment battle expected to continue throughout the winter, the biggest interest is which team will wear.
Meanwhile, Lee Jung-hoo, who ended the season early after injuring his left shoulder while playing defense this year, will return to Korea on October 1 and continue his rehabilitation in Korea. Lee Jung-hoo’s management company, Rico Sports Agency, said on the 27th that Lee Jung-hoo will return home via Incheon International Airport on October 1.
Lee Jung-hoo, who garnered great interest by signing a six-year contract worth 113 million U.S. dollars with the San Francisco Giants ahead of this season, received great trust as the team’s leadoff and starting center fielder. He has gradually adapted to the league in the early days of this season. His batting average fell below expectations, but there were many indicators that he could look forward to, including the speed of his batting.
However, he was injured in the top of the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, on May 13. At the time, Lee Jung-hoo chased the home run ball with all his might and jumped at the last minute, but eventually left the stadium due to injury as he strongly hit his left shoulder in the process. The examination revealed a major problem with his shoulder, and San Francisco decided to have surgery and chose Lee Jung-hoo be out for the early season. Rather, I hoped to wait without any problems next year.
In 37 games this year, Lee posted a batting average of 0.262 (38 hits in 145 at-bats) with two homers, eight RBIs, 15 runs and two steals, and a batting average of 0.262 (38 hits in 145) and a slugging percentage of 0.331 and an OPS of 0.641. Apart from his performance this year, Lee had to play in many games to adapt to the Major League pitchers and stadiums, but he was regrettable that he lost that opportunity due to his injury. However, there are positive outlooks that he still has five years left on his contract and has enough time to make up for it.
Although he has not shown all his abilities this year, he is expected to continue as a leadoff and center fielder next year as he has signed a six-year contract and spent a large amount of money.