Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto? Ex-Giants president reveals preference in hypothetical free agency scenario
In consecutive years, Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto have redefined what it means to be a top free agent. In 2023, Ohtani set the sports record with his $700 million deal. In 2024, Soto topped it with a $765 million deal of his own.
Former San Francisco Giants president Farhan Zaidi addressed which one of them would likely have signed for more if they were in the same free agent class.
"It's a really tough one ... I would sign Shohei, but you're really talking about options 1A and 1B. Hey, the Dodgers tried to sign Soto, too, so I'm not really picking sides here," Zaidi said (24:42). "Juan got a bigger deal, so more power to him. I think the fact that he was a free agent at 25 years old still kind of blows your mind."
The Giants, Zaidi's most recent team, tried to sign Ohtani when he was their president. They reportedly offered a similar deal to the one he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The following year, the Giants did not try to sign Soto, however. They signed Willy Adames to a $182 million deal and reportedly were not among the five teams who made offers to Soto.
Mets believe Juan Soto's defense can improve
Juan Soto may have earned a Gold Glove nomination in right field last season, but his defensive metrics have been mostly poor throughout his career. The New York Mets believe that can change.
“I think he is probably about a league average right fielder, and we think he has the ability to get better," Mets executive David Stearns said, via The Athletic. "And that’s something that we actually talked to Juan about during our meetings with him. He is very motivated to continue to improve, to improve his defense. He got better this past year, and we think he can take another step forward.”
For his career, he has -15 DRS in the outfield. In 2024, he was right at zero, so he was neither a positive nor a negative defender by that metric. He has a -31 fielding run value for his career as well as -24 outs above average.