"Juan Soto is very disciplined in not saying anything" - MLB insider offers perspective after unexpected call from top sportscaster
Juan Soto's free agency has captivated the attention of MLB fans this offseason. Five teams are reportedly in conversation to acquire him - the New York Mets, New York Yankees, LA Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays.
The prized free agent is reportedly asking for a contract worth $700 million for 15 years, but the aforementioned teams have offered him between $635 million to $675 million. Even the members of The Rich Eisen show are intrigued on where Soto is headed.
To get an answer, sportscaster Rich Eisen called Jeff Passan to get the MLB insider's two cents on Soto's sweepstakes. The ESPN analyst mentioned that it's all have been very confusing where the outfielder is heading and one reason behind it could be him not speaking much about it, leaving everyone wondering.
"Listen, I wish I had a more satisfactory answer, but part of the fun of this is not knowing and being surprised when it actually does happen," Passan told Eisen (10:15 onwards).
"The only person who knows what's going on right now is Juan Soto, and he has been very disciplined in not saying anything, all right."
Jeff Passan makes case for every team to land Juan Soto
While Jeff Passan didn't had the answer on where Juan Soto is likely to sign, he made a case for each team reportedly involved in his sweepstakes. Starting with the Yankees, he said:
"You can make a great case for the Yankees—he went to the World Series with them, he's comfortable there, it’s Pinstripes, and he’s going to go into the Hall of Fame as a New York Yankee just like so many greats before him."
He said about the Mets:
"You can make an argument for the Mets—they have the richest owner in baseball, it looks like they’re going to build a juggernaut there, they made it to the NLCS last year, and it’s a good team in place where he’d get to play alongside Francisco Lindor."
He referred to the Red Sox having a good core in play.
"With the Red Sox, you’ve got a great farm system, a really good core in place already at the big-league level, and an ownership group that seemingly is ready to go back out and act like a big-market team," Passan said.
While Passan doesn't believe Juan Soto will sign with the Dodgers or the Blue Jays, it won't be a bad idea if he does, he added.
"If you’re Soto, why would you just throw the Dodgers out if they’re in the vicinity enough financially? You know that you could play alongside Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman on a team that’s destined to win more World Series championships—there’s a lot of allure to that," Passan said for the Dodgers.
He added for the Blue Jays:
"In Toronto, the money would seemingly be there, and you’d have a one-two punch of Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that’s pretty difficult to match."
Eventually, Passan concluded that it will depend on where Juan Soto wants to play.