Juan Soto is arguably the biggest name of the free agent market this offseason. The slugger has met with several teams over the past few weeks, including the Boston Red Sox, but no offers have been presented.
Free agent outfielder Juan Soto. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)AP
But it appears that soon will change.
Teams interested in Soto are expected to begin fielding him offers this week, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported on Sunday.
Other teams reportedly interested in Soto include the New York Yankees — who he spent the 2024 season with — the New York Mets, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed Boston’s interest in Soto to The Boston Globe during the annual owners’ meetings.
Soto would immediately upgrade the lineup and give the Red Sox another power bat — something they were missing at times during the 2023 season. The 26-year-old is expected to land a massive contract that could possibly exceed $600 million and Kennedy didn’t rule out another potential mega-deal for the Red Sox, who signed Rafael Devers for $313 million two winters ago.
“Is that possible? If that’s what it takes, yeah, absolutely,” Kennedy told The Globe. “We are investing more than we did last year. We intend to invest going forward. Our priority is 90 to 95 wins, and winning the American League East, and winning the division for multiple years.”
Even if Boston misses out on Soto, Kennedy doesn’t see the Red Sox stopping their pursuit of trying to sign high-end talent and said they could afford to sign someone to a large deal “even if it takes (them) over the ($241 million) CBT.”
The Red Sox had a “productive” three-hour meeting with Soto in California earlier this month, MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported. Kennedy was in attendance, as was chairman Tom Werner, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora.
Soto, according to McAdam, was “impressed” with his meeting with Boston as the Red Sox laid out what their plans are for the future.
