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NEW YORK — Juan Soto seemed to approach his introductory press conference with the Mets much the same way he sets up at the plate for his at-bats. Sitting at a long table on a raised stage in the jam-packed Piazza club at Citi Field, he clamped his teeth down on his bottom lip and nodded his head up and down. It was the same expression we’d seen him make in the batter’s box, except this time, instead of staring down the pitcher, he was facing his future. 

Soto was his usual picture of confidence as he exchanged his navy blue blazer for a white No. 22 New York Mets jersey that he wore over his black turtleneck sweater. Mets owner Steve Cohen, who looked both exhausted and relieved after the rollercoaster of emotions of the past week, extended his hand to Soto and officially started their 15-year, $765 million partnership. What’s step one? Build a dynasty in Queens so that the Mets become one of the premiere elite teams in baseball. 

“Definitely that was one of the things that opened my eyes more,” Soto said on Thursday at Citi Field. “How hungry they are to win a championship, and to want to make a dynasty with the New York Mets.”

Let’s dive into three takeaways from a special day in Mets franchise history.

What made the Mets stand out to Soto?

Being the recipient of the largest contract in professional sports history was the elephant in the room, but besides the obvious, the two words that Soto most mentioned throughout his first big day as a Met were winning and family. 

While Soto was still deciding where he would spend his future, he asked Cohen during their second meeting this offseason how many championships the Mets owner would like to win over the next 10 years. Cohen answered: “I’d like to win two to four.” That ambitious response resonated with Soto’s long-term goal, and it ultimately became a separator for the slugger as he mulled over bids from five teams (the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Blue Jays). Late Sunday night, Soto decided the Mets gave him the best chance to win a World Series. 

You might think his resolute determination to win puts pressure on the Mets organization, but Soto actually shares that hunger with Cohen. If anyone is heightening the pressure to win championships and morph the Mets into perennial winners, it’s the billionaire hedge-fund manager and lifetime Mets fan who bought the franchise for fun, as a hobby on the side, in Nov. 2020. The Mets’ presentation highlighted Cohen’s deep-rooted desire to bring sustained success to Queens.

“I wanted to get a point across to him that we’re good people, that we care, that we want to win a championship, that I’m always successful,” Cohen said. “If he ever wants to sit down and talk to me — I was saying that in a town hall for my hedge fund today. I have 3,200 employees, my door is always open. And most people don’t take advantage of it because I’m the boss and nobody wants to talk to the boss. But that’s how I operate. I operate that way with Juan Soto, and I operate that way with a junior analyst at my hedge fund.”

To demonstrate the importance of mi casa es su casa, Cohen held the California meeting with Soto in his $35 million Beverly Hills mansion. Cohen joked that he invited Soto over because “the food’s better at my house,” but it was just another detail that separated the Mets from the other four teams. Another distinction was the presence of Cohen’s 93-year-old father-in-law, Ralph Garcia, at the meeting. Cohen’s wife, Alex, grew up in Washington Heights watching the Mets with her dad, who goes to every home game these days, and he attended the Soto meeting to tell him how much he wanted to see the slugger play in orange and blue threads. 

The Cohen family’s openness and promised ongoing availability mattered a great deal to Soto. It made him and his family feel comfortable, and for a 26-year-old kid from the Dominican Republic who spends his free time with his family, that feeling of security loomed large over his decision-making process. But Soto’s favorite part about the Mets’ presentation was a video where, at the end of it, they showed a statue of Soto erected next to the statue of Tom Seaver that currently sits outside of Citi Field. Talk about acing the test.

“It’s been in a Mets town for a long time, so I think we just gotta bring it to the top,” Soto said. “Definitely, championships are going to tell you whether it’s the Yankees or a Mets town at the end of the day.”

How did the Yankees fall short?

We know the Yankees didn’t offer as much money as the Mets did, but they weren’t that far off from the final number. The Mets’ offer of $765 million is only $5 million better, in terms of total guaranteed value, than the Yankees’ offer of $760 million. His signing bonus in Queens is $15 million more than where the Yankees stopped. His agreed-upon $51 million annual average value is $3.5 million more than what it could’ve been with the Yankees. These are not outrageous differences, but to the youngest and most talented free agent to hit the market since Alex Rodriguez in 2000, the details clearly mattered.

“​​I feel like they did everything that they had in their power to help me out, to bring me back,” Soto said of the Yankees. “But I had four other teams doing the same thing and trying to make me feel comfortable. And at the end of the day we look at everything, we look at the chances and we look at what other teams wanted to do, and what everybody wants to do for the next 15 years, and I think we have the best chances over here.”

“Look, the New York Yankees in this negotiation stepped up. They did,” Boras said. “They really, really made themselves known in this process and the Soto family and everyone has the highest regard. It was really about internally what they felt was best long-term.”

[RELATED: Three moves the Yankees must make after losing Juan Soto]

Soto addressed the topic of the paid suite he requested for his family at the ballpark, and how he appreciated that Cohen was willing to include it. The Yankees, according to reports, did not sign off on a paid suite for Soto at Yankee Stadium. Cohen simply said he had heard from Scott Boras, Soto’s agent, that the slugger wanted a suite as part of the deal, so the Mets included it right from the beginning.

“He made a request, I was happy to provide it,” Cohen said.

Soto described his year with the Yankees as “the best time,” but he also said he hasn’t spoken to any of his former Bronx teammates since they lost the World Series to the Dodgers. He thanked Yankees fans for showing him love this past year, but that’s hardly going to minimize the barrage of boos that will be sent his way when the Subway Series goes to 161st Street on May 16. Of course, he understood that when he picked the two-time championship Mets over the 27-time championship Yankees. But 29 fanbases were always going to be irritated by his final decision. Soto was ready for that.

Ultimately, he was more impressed by the Mets’ hot pursuit. The formal presentation to land Soto began in earnest in August, when Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns typically begins his offseason preparation, but the groundwork was laid long before that. Stearns said acquiring Soto was on his radar, dating as far back as October 2023, when Cohen named him the first POBO in Mets franchise history. Cohen’s desire to make Soto a Met was discussed in his initial meeting with Stearns last year.

“We did know that if he was going to be a free agent,” Stearns said, “We were going to make a very strong push.”

What is Soto going to do with all the money?

The generational star expected a big pay day for a long time — that much was evident when he reportedly rejected a 15-year, $440 million extension with the Nationals in 2021. But, even so, no one was prepared for Soto to break Shohei Ohtani’s record for the biggest contract in sports by a whopping $305 million. 

Soto had a lot of time to think about what he would do with his money before he finally accepted the Mets’ contract this week. His thoughtful answer based on paying it forward provided insight into the values that Soto most cares about.

“The first thing that came to mind was, I’m going to try to help a lot of people back in D.R.,” Soto said. “I know that there are a lot of kids that have talent and they can have a bright future, but they don’t have the support to do it. And I feel like when you sign a contract like that, that’s the first thing it brings to my mind, to help the community and try to help everybody around my country – and try to create more chances, more opportunities for the people to grow and keep moving forward. 

“You never know who’s going to be the next Juan Soto, who’s going to be the next Ohtani, the next Bryce Harper, or who’s going to be the next Scott Boras, who’s going to be the next Steve Cohen. I want to give them that little hope. I feel like that’s one of the biggest things. Just give them hope so they can keep moving forward.”

[RELATED: $1 million per homer? $27,000 a point? Sports is loaded with money oddities]

It’s not just the Dominican Republic that Soto is supporting. He lifted the Mets’ long-beleaguered fanbase the second he announced his decision to play at Citi Field for what could be the rest of his career. Sit tight, Mets fans. Only a few more months until April 4, when you can give Soto your love in the most anticipated Mets home opener to date.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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DALLAS — The Yankees didn’t get what they ultimately wanted. But there’s still time for them to get what they need. 

Despite October’s World Series run, New York entered the offseason with more than a few holes on its roster. The starting rotation might not have appeared to be one of them, but the addition of Max Fried gives the Yankees arguably the best staff in the American League. While it was a surprise that they guaranteed the 31-year-old Fried the most money for a left-handed pitcher in MLB history ($218 million over eight years), their quick pivot to a second ace could provide flexibility in how they address the offensive void created by losing the Juan Soto sweepstakes. 

That prompted the following debate between our MLB writers: 

Given what it would have cost to sign Juan Soto, how do you feel about the Max Fried contract? Could you see the Yankees being better off in the aggregate without Soto?

Deesha Thosar: Finally, Yankees fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing the team has shrugged off the loss of Soto and moved on in a significant way. Brian Cashman revealed the Yankees weren’t able to go all-in on a competitive offer for Blake Snell because they were waiting to see how their payroll would be impacted by Soto’s decision. That ultimately cost them when Snell quickly signed with the Dodgers. So, it was smart of the Yankees front office to go right after Fried, the other top left-handed pitcher on the market, less than 48 hours after they lost Soto to the Mets.

I’m more surprised at the length of the Fried contract than I am with the expenditure. Giving an eight-year deal to a 31-year-old with a history of recent forearm injuries is certainly a risk. Fried has the third-best ERA (2.81) among all major-league starting pitchers since 2020, but the Yankees betting on him to be anywhere near that productive into his age-39 season is bold. 

Those extra years the Yankees tacked on to the deal, however, allowed them to lower his annual average value to $27.25 million, which means they can keep spending this winter.

Reading Cashman’s tea leaves, it sounds like the Yankees would not have been in the mix for Fried if they had acquired Soto. So, in that vein, the Yankees are beginning to improve their roster — in potentially multiple ways — without Soto. 

The rotation now consists of seven starters. In addition to Fried, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón figure to be the only mainstays, with at least one of Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman likely to be traded. There is no denying that the Yankees offense is worse without Soto, but they can bolster it by swapping an arm or two for an impact bat.

That’s where a trade for Cody Bellinger is beginning to make too much sense for the Yankees. Bellinger’s versatility allows the Yankees to plug him in at first base, center field or right field, and even though he’s no Soto (no one is), his left-handed bat figures to play well in Yankee Stadium. Bellinger is set to make $27.5 million this season and has a player option for $25 million in 2026, and the Yankees still have payroll flexibility for him even after signing Fried. 

Signing Fried alone doesn’t make the Yankees better off without Soto, but they’re positioned well to make a couple more splashy moves to try and get there.

Rowan Kavner: This is more than I expected for Fried, but in this post-Soto world, my brain might not work anymore. The average annual value is completely reasonable — his $27.25 million per year is just a tick ahead of what his rotation mate Carlos Rodón will be making — but the length of the contract came as a surprise as Fried enters his age-31 season coming off back-to-back years of forearm issues. 

That’s a long time for a starting pitcher in his 30s, particularly one with an injury history. Then again, the Yankees clearly felt like they had to do something quickly to save face in the aftermath of Soto’s departure, and they aren’t wrong. I would’ve liked Snell more for them, but after missing out on him during their pursuit of Soto, it certainly doesn’t hurt their cause to grab one of the top pitchers on the market, even if eight years is one or two more than I would’ve felt comfortable with.

Fried’s consistency is exemplary. His ability to keep the ball on the ground and induce soft contact has led to a 2.81 ERA over the past five years — the best mark among pitchers who have logged at least 500 innings in that time — and he has posted a 3.25 ERA or lower every year in that stretch. 

He was clearly in the upper tier of free-agent pitchers this winter, but for a contending team looking for a difference-maker in October, I would have slotted him just behind Corbin Burnes and Snell, given Fried’s inability to consistently miss bats. That has gotten him into trouble in recent postseasons — he has allowed 14 runs (12 earned) in his past three playoff appearances dating back to 2022 — but he did throw six shutout innings in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series while helping the Braves to a championship.

It’s still hard to imagine any non-Shohei Ohtani player being worth more than $700 million, but to be better in the aggregate without Soto, it will take a LOT more work from the Yankees this winter. I don’t see that happening without multiple impact bats, at minimum. 

They’d probably have to get two of Alex Bregman, Christian Walker or Teoscar Hernández to start building an argument. On the trade market, it also wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see them go after Cody Bellinger, given his ability to help in center and at first.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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The Texas Rangers and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi have agreed on a $75 million, three-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the deal was subject to a successful physical for the two-time World Series champion.

Bringing back the 34-year-old Eovaldi was one of the primary goals for the Rangers this offseason.

Eovaldi became a free agent Nov. 4 after declining a vested $20 million player option for the 2025 season.

The two-time All-Star also got a $2 million buyout from that option earned by throwing more than 300 innings over his two years with the Rangers after joining them in free agency.

Eovaldi was the winning pitcher in their World Series-clinching game at Arizona in 2023, when he was 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in six postseason starts. He was also part of Boston’s 2018 title.

The Rangers had expected Eovaldi to decline the option, but had said it was one of their priorities to re-sign the Texas native.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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DALLAS — The winter meetings are buzzing. 

This year’s event, held at the expansive, 45-acre Hilton Anatole resort, has the potential to be an extremely active week for the baseball industry as club executives, managers, player agents, and numerous reporters settle into the most exciting time in MLB’s offseason. 

After generational slugger Juan Soto got the week started with his eyebrow-raising decision to play for the Mets, free agents and trade candidates are expected to fly off the board as deals come together this week. Without further ado, here’s what we’re hearing from various corners of the industry.

Nolan Arenado is open to being traded

The 10-time Gold Glove winner may have played his final game in St. Louis. The Cardinals are “motivated to move him,” and Arenado is willing to strongly consider being traded as long as the landing spot is with a win-now team, according to his agent, Joel Wolfe. Not only is Arenado involved in daily conversations with Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak about being traded, but Wolfe is telling teams that the six-time Platinum Glove third baseman is even offering to play a different position.

“Nolan wanted to offer it and say, ‘I’m happy to play first. I can move around and play third,'” Wolfe said on Tuesday. “Nolan was like, ‘I’ll play shortstop. I’ll do whatever. But I’m not insulted to go play first, and I can win a Gold Glove over there if that’s what it takes to move around,’ because a lot of teams value versatility. So he wanted to be the first to offer that, so that [Mozeliak] can tell other teams that. From what I heard, that was well received.”

Arenado has a full no-trade clause, so he won’t be leaving St. Louis unless he signs off on it. Wolfe indicated that Arenado’s priority is to play for a team that’s going to win now, and win consistently for the rest of his career. He wants a team that “has the throttle down,” Wolfe said, and since the Cardinals are prioritizing moving payroll, it’s in the best interests of both sides to go in different directions. But it won’t be easy.

Arenado, who turns 34 in April, is owed $74 million across the remaining three years of his contract, with the Rockies covering $10 million, so any team that wants him will have to absorb $64 million for a veteran who was once a superstar, but has shown serious signs of decline in recent years. He hit just 16 home runs, slugged .394 (his career average is .515) and posted a 101 OPS+ in 2024. 

Garrett Crochet could be dealt this week

The White Sox ace has been attached to trade reports for a while now, but a source told FOX Sports that this could finally be the week that he’s dealt from Chicago. Before the retorts of “we’ll believe it when we see it” come flooding in, the expectation is that the White Sox are serious about negotiating a deal before the winter meetings are over. That should be an exciting jolt for contending teams; Crochet is the most coveted starting pitcher on the trade market. 

The 25-year-old southpaw has two more years of team control remaining before he hits free agency, and he’s coming off a successful jump to the rotation that included a 3.58 ERA across 32 starts. While the White Sox are receiving calls from several teams, their asking price might be too high at this juncture of the offseason. A number of teams are expected to explore deals for the many free-agent starting pitchers still available before making the tougher decision to ship a slew of top prospects in exchange for Crochet. It’s possible that Crochet will get dealt after more starters fly off the board. 

Boras expected to have an even bigger week

After Scott Boras got Soto, his top client, to sign Sunday to kick off the meetings, the industry is expecting the super agent to make at least one or two more big splashes before the week is over. 

Boras, as usual, has high-profile clients under his purview, with first baseman Pete Alonso, third baseman Alex Bregman, and right-handed starter Corbin Burnes headlining the list of his free agents. It’s possible that Boras is under pressure to get his players to reach agreements with clubs sooner rather than later in light of the extremely delayed signings that happened a year ago. Some of the biggest names that were last to sign last offseason were Cody Bellinger (Feb. 27, 2024), Matt Chapman (March 2), Blake Snell (March 19), J.D. Martinez (March 23), and Jordan Montgomery (March 29). 

Waiting until spring training was well underway — and in Montgomery’s case, two days into the regular season — didn’t bode well, in terms of performance and finances, for Boras’ players. It seems Boras has learned his lesson, as more of his top clients have already reached deals, including Snell’s five-year, $182 million pact with the Dodgers. Buckle up. More of Boras’ stars could be finalizing terms in Dallas as we speak.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. Follow her on X at @DeeshaThosar.

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The Washington Nationals will have the No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft next summer after winning the lottery in a drawing of ping-pong balls at the winter meetings Tuesday.

Unlike last year, when the Nationals were ineligible after initially coming out with the top spot, they will get to make the first pick in July in Atlanta, the site of the All-Star Game.

Washington was ineligible for a top-six pick last year because the collective bargaining agreement states a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan cannot have a lottery selection in back-to-back years. The Nationals chose outfielder Dylan Crews with the No. 2 pick in 2023.

The Los Angeles Angels have the second pick for next summer. Seattle, Colorado, St. Louis and Pittsburgh round out the top six.

A weighted lottery among the 18 teams that failed to make the playoffs this season determined the order of picks for the third year in a row.

The Nationals went in with a 10.2% chance, the fourth-best odds, for getting the No. 1 pick. Colorado and Miami, both 100-loss teams, had the best odds at 22.45%, ahead of the Angels at 17.96%.

Miami instead ended up with the seventh pick.

Seattle got the No. 3 overall pick after having a 0.53% chance to get the No. 1 pick, the second-worst odds among 16 eligible teams.

The 121-loss Chicago White Sox, who had the most losses of any major league club since 1900, were not eligible for the draft lottery since they had one of the top six picks last year (No. 5) and is a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan.

The CBA also doesn’t allow teams that receive money in revenue sharing to have lottery picks three years in a row. That made the Athletics (69-93) ineligible for the lottery — they picked fourth last year after having the No. 6 selection in 2023.

Chicago instead got the 10th pick, one spot ahead of Oakland — the highest possible positions for those two teams because of their recent lottery picks.

Full MLB Draft lottery

1. 1. Washington Nationals
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Colorado Rockies
5.  St. Louis Cardinals
6.  Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Miami Marlins
8. Toronto Blue Jays
9. Cincinnati Reds
10. Chicago White Sox
11. Athletics
12. Texas Rangers
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Tampa Bay Rays
15. Boston Red Sox
16. Minnesota Twins

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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DALLAS — The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes have begun. 

The top international free agent was officially posted this week, opening a 45-day window for teams to make their pitches to the 23-year-old flamethrower from Japan. 

Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe, speaking from the Hilton Anatole at MLB’s winter meetings, said the process will be “open-ended.” Wolfe expects to meet with Sasaki in the next couple of days and then map out a schedule to meet with teams, likely starting next week. Those meetings will take place in a central location first before Sasaki potentially begins visiting “a few isolated places” in a second round of meetings. 

The 2024 international signing period ends Dec. 15. Sasaki is expected to sign during the 2025 international signing period, which begins Jan. 15. Every team will then have somewhere between $5-8 million to work with as bonus pools reset. 

“Teams have already begun sending presentations, both in video and powerpoint, PDF-form, that sort of thing,” Wolfe said, estimating that he has seen three or four so far. “But we didn’t give teams a hard deadline to submit that information because we want them to be able to put the time in to do it right.”

For a quick refresher, this won’t be like Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s situation a year ago when he signed for 12 years and $325 million, earning the biggest contract ever for a pitcher.

Sasaki might’ve commanded something similar if he were available on the open market, but because he is not yet 25, he is subject to international amateur free-agent restrictions. That means he can only sign a minor-league deal from a team’s international bonus pool. He is widely considered to be one of the top pitchers available, and he will come at a fraction of the cost of most free agents, opening the door for every team to make its pitch. Wolfe estimates that “at least half the league” has scouted Sasaki in Japan this year. 

Here’s some of what Wolfe had to say about how the process will work, what we know about Sasaki and what we can expect over the next 45 days. 

Why is Sasaki signing now instead of waiting until he’s 25 and can make significantly more money?

It’s a question that’s difficult for Wolfe to answer. 

“Some of it is Japanese culture, some of it is just Roki Sasaki,” Wolfe said. “There are no absolutes in baseball, and through Roki’s eyes, there are no absolutes in life.”

Wolfe said the tragedies Sasaki has dealt with — when he was 9, Sasaki lost his father and grandparents in the tsunami that resulted from the devastating 2011 earthquake — have shaped his life perspective. He doesn’t take anything for granted. 

“It is not an absolute lock, as some people in baseball have assumed, that two years from now he’s going to get a Yamamoto contract,” Wolfe continued. “Baseball just doesn’t work that way. If you look at the epidemic of injuries that pitchers here suffer, they have the same potential issues. He could have Tommy John surgery. He’s had two shoulder injuries. He’s had oblique injuries. Things may not go the way they want.”

In addition, Sasaki’s experience pitching in the World Baseball Classic intensified his desire to make the leap. 

“It’s always been his dream to come to the major leagues since he was in high school,” Wolfe said. “He has grown up idolizing players like Yu Darvish and [Masahiro] Tanaka and [Daisuke] Matsuzaka. This is something he’s always wanted to do, and when he went to WBC and he was around some of these major-league players, it really rubbed off on him that he became sure that, ‘This is what I want to do as soon as possible,’ and it just further solidified his decision-making process.”

Wolfe said Sasaki doesn’t yet know much about the individual teams and cities. He has encouraged Sasaki to enter the process with an open mind and categorically denied any speculation that a handshake deal has already been made, despite wide speculation that the Dodgers, who employ Sasaki’s WBC teammates Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, are the favorites.  

“There were some accusations, allegations, all of them false, made about predetermined deals, things like that,” Wolfe said. “However, MLB rightly wanted to make sure this was going to be a fair and level playing field for everyone. So, they did their due diligence and interviewed numerous parties ahead of time to make sure that was the case. And they wanted to make sure that Roki would most likely, while he would have the opportunity to sign in ‘24, give himself the best opportunity to get the best deal for him and for Chiba, and that Chiba would also have that opportunity. So, it made sense to post at this time so he could go into the ‘25 pool when the teams will have much more substantial international bonus money.”

Does that mean teams with more international bonus pool money have an upper hand? 

“Given the gap in the bonus pool amounts is so negligible, my advice to him is, ‘Don’t make a decision based on that,'” Wolfe said, “because the long-term arc of your career is where you’re going to earn your money. So, it’s probably not advisable to make a short-term decision in that regard.”

So, what is most important to Sasaki? 

Wolfe is still getting a feel for that. 

He has known Sasaki “for a little over two years now” and said “it has been a little bit difficult to really ascertain what his decision-making process would be for choosing a team because his focus has been predominantly on whether or not he’s going to be able to post.”

Now, that obstacle is out of the way. 

The Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki’s NPB team, announced in November that they would begin the posting process — to the surprise of many, considering the posting fee that they will receive will be significantly less than what they would have gotten had they waited until Sasaki was 25 — but Wolfe didn’t know until a few days ago when it would officially happen. 

Wolfe said Sasaki has asked “for a broad range of information” and “to suggest information about different teams and regions that we think might be beneficial to him.” 

“The best I can say is, he has paid attention to how teams have done, as far as overall success both this year and years past,” Wolfe said. “He does watch a lot of Major League Baseball. He has paid attention to what his WBC teammates have done. He’s talked to a lot of players, foreign players, that have been on his team with Chiba Lotte. He has asked a lot of questions about weather, about comfortability, about pitching development. And just watching what other Japanese players in the major leagues are doing and how they are doing.”

Does that mean he would be more open to joining a team with Japanese players? 

Dating back to the pursuits of Kodai Senga and Yamamoto, many teams asked Wolfe whether having Japanese players already on their team would be an obstacle or an attraction for his Japanese clients. 

“And it’s different for every single player,” Wolfe said. “Each player is unique in how they feel about it, and I think it also matters on the player that is already on the team, how much do they reach out to other Japanese players? How are they perceived by this particular Japanese player? And it just varies player to player.” 

So, is it more of an attraction for Sasaki?

“It could be, to have an older player to help show him the ropes,” Wolfe said. “But anyone that knows Roki Sasaki, this is one of the most driven, intense players I’ve ever known and been around, and I wouldn’t say he would necessarily need it to succeed.”

Do West Coast teams have an advantage? 

“He’s never brought that up as an issue,” Wolfe said. “When we supply information to our players, our Japanese players, long before they come over here, one of the things that we provide for them is direct flights from Japan and the amount of time it takes for family to come and visit you. I think about five or 10 years ago that was something that maybe they weighed a little bit more, but now you can fly direct from Japan to most of the major cities in the U.S. It’s not really that much of an issue anymore.”

Asked how the Padres would fit, considering Sasaki’s admiration for Darvish, Wolfe said he assumed “that would be a team that he would seriously consider.” 

Wolfe added that he hasn’t talked to Sasaki about his relationship with Ohtani.  

Do smaller or mid-market teams have a chance? 

“Yeah, absolutely,” Wolfe said. “I think that there’s an argument to be made that a small or mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing coming from Japan, given what he’s been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media. It might be … I’m not saying it will be, but I don’t know how he’s going to view it, it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market. But I really don’t know how he looks at it yet because I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and discuss it with him in great detail.” 

Wait, what’s the situation with the media in Japan? 

“The media in Japan has been very tough on him, and he’s not had a great time with it,” Wolfe said. “My personal opinion is that it’s been a bit unfair, and it’s affected him mentally a little bit.”

Wolfe later elaborated on those issues: “There’s been a lot of negativity in the media directed at him because he has expressed interest at going to play for MLB at such a young age. That’s considered in Japan to be very disrespectful and sort of swimming upstream. There’s been a lot of things … a lot of people jumped on board there creating some false rumors about him and his family. It was very detrimental to his mental state.”

Would all of that rule out a place like New York? 

“He hasn’t said anything negative about any particular city, and he actually hasn’t said anything overly positive about it,” Wolfe said. “We haven’t had any detailed discussions about particular cities yet. But I think he can handle it, just based on what I’ve seen.”

When will Sasaki make his choice? 

While the signing won’t take place until at least Jan. 15, it’s possible Sasaki makes his decision before then. 

“The incentive to sign as early as possible is to get the visa process going so that he would be on time for spring training,” Wolfe said. “So, the earlier we make a decision, the better. Nobody would want him to be showing up late to spring training.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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Max Fried and the New York Yankees have agreed to a $218 million, eight-year contract, the largest deal for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the agreement, first reported by ESPN, was subject to a successful physical.

New York made the move two days after outfielder Juan Soto left for a pending $765 million, 15-year contract with the rival Mets.

[2025 MLB free-agent signing and trade tracker]

Fried, who turns 31 in January, gets the fourth-highest contract among pitchers behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million), the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole ($324 million) and Washington’s Stephen Strasburg ($245 million), who hasn’t pitched since 2022 and has retired. Fried broke the mark for lefties set by David Price at $217 million.

Fried joins a potential rotation that already included Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman.

Fried spent his first eight seasons with the Braves, making the All-Star team in 2022 and 2024. He had his first big season in 2019, finishing 17-6 with a 4.02 ERA.

He was 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing fifth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. The three-time Gold Glove winner had his best season in 2022, going 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA.

Fried was 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA in an injury-hampered 2023 season, then was 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts this year.

The right-hander was the seventh overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft by San Diego and was traded in a 2014 in the deal that sent Justin Upton to San Diego.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Nolan Arenado is open to a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, at age 33, wanting to be on a World Series contender.

“It’s like his biological clock is ticking,” agent Joel Wolfe said Tuesday at the winter meetings. “And if the team’s not winning it’s driving him crazy every day, every night all through the offseason. And he takes it so personal, like it’s all on him.”

An eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove third baseman, Arenado is open to a switch to first base. He hit .272 with 16 homers and 71 RBIs this year, his poorest season in a decade.

St. Louis acquired Arenado from Colorado ahead of the 2021 season, lost at the wild-card round in his first two years, then failed to make the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

“The Cardinals are changing direction, which is fine. All teams do that,” Wolfe said. “So if that’s the way it is and they’ve said it might be beneficial to move you and they were open and communicated about it, he’s like: ‘I get it. Let’s just try and find a place where they’re in a different place,’ where he could just jump in and help the team go to the next level.”

Arenado has played 1,629 games in the field during his big league career, all at third base. He won Gold Gloves from 2013-22, matching Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki for winning the award in his first 10 seasons.

Arenado told Cardinals president baseball operations John Mozeliak he is open to a position switch.

“If it would make Mo’s job easier to get to the right team, Nolan is more than willing to move around,” Wolfe said, quoting his client as saying, “‘I’m not insulted to go play first and I can win a Gold Glove over there if that’s what it takes.'”

“He wanted to be just the first to offer that so that Mo could tell other teams that,” Wolfe said.

Arenado has a .285 career average with 341 homers and 1,132 RBIs for the Cardinals and Colorado Rockies. He is owed $74 million for the final three seasons of a contract paying him $275 million over nine years.

He has a full no-trade provision, giving him the ability to decide his destination.

“It’s more of just an ongoing discussion of: Would you be OK with this team? Would you be OK with that team?” Wolfe said. “We don’t want to waste Mo’s time and there some hard nos of where he would prefer not to go and things like that. It’s been somewhat dynamic in the discussion about how that works.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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DALLAS — In another world, Juan Soto is about to enter his eighth season for the Nationals, his future already cemented in Washington as his Hall of Fame trajectory plays out for a team still trying to claw its way back toward contention and relevancy. 

But he was thinking bigger. Much, much bigger. 

After back-to-back last-place finishes following their stunning 2019 championship run, the Nationals were cellar-dwellers again in the summer of 2022 when they gave their superstar a substantial offer, one that nobody would have faulted Soto for taking. Three years prior, Mike Trout had signed a 12-year, $426.5 million extension with the Angels that made him the richest player in the sport. The Nationals were prepared to top that for Soto, at the time a 23-year-old phenom who already had three top-10 MVP finishes, two All-Star appearances and a batting title under his belt. 

They offered him $440 million over 15 years. 

Soto, to the surprise of many, turned it down. 

It was a risky bet on himself but one that would be bountifully rewarded less than two years later — he agreed Sunday to a mind-boggling, landscape-altering 15-year, $765 million pact with the Mets — and one that provided some insight into what he desired. 

He had experienced the euphoria of winning it all, but the elation was fleeting. The Nationals had a losing record in the shortened 2020 season and won just 65 games in 2021 before things spiraled further in 2022. At the time Soto received his offer, the Nationals were already more than 30 games under .500 by the break, in last place by 27.5 games. Soto was tired of losing, and the Nats couldn’t entice him to stay, not with their future so uncertain. 

So, they traded him to San Diego, where, at least for a brief moment, the decision to forgo the payday seemed in danger of backfiring on the Scott Boras client. Soto slashed .236/.388/.390 over the final 52 games of the 2022 season, still considerably above average but hardly the type of elite numbers that would garner the highest offer in MLB history. 

And then Juan Soto turned into Juan Soto again. The Padres reached the National Leage Championship Series for the first time since 1998. Despite losing to the Phillies, Soto produced a .944 OPS during the series, offering the tantalizing combination of power and patience at the plate that would eventually command an unfathomable offer from an owner willing to go where no one thought possible. 

Soto’s work the next two years — in 2023 in San Diego, where he launched 35 homers, led the majors in walks for a third straight season and hit 55% better than league average; and even more so in 2024 in the Bronx, where he hit a career-high 41 homers, transformed the Yankees lineup from one of the worst to one of the best in baseball and helped them reach the World Series for the first time in 15 years — raised the stakes for all interested parties. (Four teams reportedly offered Soto at least $700 million.)

“This was a year that he was setting himself up for this type of deal,” Giants manager Bob Melvin, who coached Soto in San Diego, said Monday at MLB’s winter meetings. “I don’t know that anybody could have really predicted what the number would be, but if anybody is going to get money like that, it’s going to be Juan.” 

There’s only one precedent for a player as talented as Soto hitting the open market at his age — Álex Rodríguez in 2000 — which is why it’s the only precedent for the length and size of the contract Soto received in comparison to his peers. 

Considering how quickly Soto rose through the ranks to superstardom and how teams are increasingly finding creative ways to keep their young stars in uniform through their prime before they’ve established their full value — Ronald Acuña Jr., Fernando Tatís Jr., Julio Rodríguez, Corbin Carroll and Bobby Witt Jr. all received nine-figure extensions at the age of 23 or younger, and the Brewers even inked then-19-year-old Jackson Chourio to an eight-year extension before he’d made his MLB debut — it’s unlikely anyone currently playing in the majors will get a deal like Soto’s. 

The next-closest comparison is Bryce Harper, who was also entering his age-26 season when he signed his 13-year, $330 million deal with the Phillies in 2019, but Soto had produced better slash-line numbers across the board through his first six years than Harper did and was worth nearly nine more wins than Harper in that time, per Baseball-Reference’s calculation. This winter, Soto figured to top both Harper’s total and that of his former Yankees teammate, Aaron Judge, who got nine years and $360 million after the slugger’s 62-homer season. Getting more than both Harper and Judge combined, however, seemed preposterous. 

Soto doesn’t offer the power of Judge, but he’s one of nine players in MLB history to hit 200 homers before the age of 26, and there are few players in the history of the game — regardless of age — who have reached base at a greater clip than Soto. His career .421 on-base percentage currently stands as the second-highest mark for any player who debuted in the past 75 years. Moreover, Soto’s career 158 wRC+ is higher than that of Hall of Famers Stan Musial, Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio and Willie Mays. 

The deeper the Yankees’ run continued this year, the higher the figures seemed to rise — $500 million? $600 million? $700 million?! — especially with billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen pushing the envelope. If he wants something, and money is the primary driving force, he’s capable of getting it. In the case of Soto, it meant going to absurdly unprecedented lengths. 

Shohei Ohtani annihilated all concepts of what was once considered possible with his landmark 10-year, $700 million contract last December, a deal that obliterated the sport’s previous highwater mark in total value by more than $250 million. But that number was something of a mirage. The stunning deferrals in the two-way star’s contract lowered his total present-day value to around $460 million, a number that figured to pay for itself even before he won his third MVP award and led the Dodgers to a World Series championship in his first year with the club, given the many revenue streams he opened up for the Dodgers due to his international appeal and their ownership group’s ability to put his money to work. 

Soto won’t be able to replicate that off-field value. On the field, his below average baserunning and defense put a cap on his production — his 7.9 bWAR this past season easily represented a career high — and might force him off a corner outfield spot halfway through the deal. He has never been an MVP, but he has finished in the top three in voting twice and has produced the fifth-most WAR in the majors since he entered the league as a 19-year-old in 2018. The only players with a higher wRC+ than Soto in that time are Judge, Trout and Yordan Álvarez. Since the shortened 2020 season, the only MLB player who has clearly offered more overall offensive value is Judge, who was entering his age-31 season when he signed his extension two winters ago. 

Together, Judge and Soto made magic. For one season, they combined to form one of the greatest tandems in baseball history. With Soto now joining Francisco Lindor, the Mets have created a new dynamic duo, even if it won’t be quite the same for Soto as hitting in front of Judge. 

Still, Soto’s skill set should allow him to thrive in any lineup. In 2024, Soto paired a 99th percentile barrel and hard-hit rate with a 100th percentile expected batting average and walk rate. He’s an unrelenting, shuffling force in the box with an exceptional understanding for the strike zone. No player had ever recorded more than 670 walks before turning 26; Soto is at 769, and he has walked more than he has struck out in each of the past five years. 

He is one of the most well-rounded hitters we’ve ever seen, and he just turned 26 during the World Series. His ability to reshape a team’s offense over the next decade was enticing enough to shatter any preconceived notions of his worth.  

A year after Ohtani earned an unthinkable amount of money, it was no longer the largest deal in the sport. 

“I certainly didn’t see that happening,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

There are no deferrals in Soto’s record-setting deal, no means of lowering the luxury-tax hit. In fact, he could opt out after the first five seasons and would hit free agency again at 31 years old if the Mets don’t add another $4 million to each of the final 10 years of this deal, which would raise the total value of the contract above $800 million. 

It’s an astronomical figure, but paying for a superstar’s mid-to-late-20s is a lot different than getting them in their 30s. Most of the cautionary tales of teams signing sluggers to megadeals fall into the latter camp. 

In March 2014, a soon-to-be 31-year-old Miguel Cabrera signed an eight-year, $248 million extension that, when added to his existing contract, gave him the largest deal of all time. He played at a below replacement level for the final seven years of the pact. Albert Pujols never finished in the top 15 in MVP voting in any of his 10 seasons with the Angels after signing for $240 million a few weeks before his 32nd birthday, as he averaged between 1-2 WAR per year over the course of the entire contract. Both Pujols and Cabrera, of course, were perennial MVP candidates prior to signing those contracts. 

There’s no way to know with any certainty when a player’s downturn will begin or health will deteriorate. Trout, for instance, had played in at least 139 games in seven of eight seasons leading into the record extension he signed with the Angels as a 27-year-old in 2019. He was seemingly as sure a bet as anyone to continue his production well into his 30s, only to have injuries limit him to 453 of the Angels’ 870 games following the extension. Soto, for what it’s worth, has been incredibly durable to this point, playing in at least 150 games in each of the past five full seasons. And his keen eye should help make up for any waning power as he enters his 30s, even if maintaining this level of production for the next 15 years is improbable. 

If Soto can be a 6-8 WAR player for each of the next five years, or a 4-8 WAR player for each of the next 10, would that make him worth between $765-$805 million? It’s hard to fathom, but that was the risk ultimately required to reap the potential reward. 

The team that Soto picked also matters in answering the question. 

For many clubs, committing $51-55 million per year would significantly handicap their ability to build a competitive roster. That shouldn’t be the case for Cohen, who once bought an Alberto Giacometti sculpture for a reported $141.3 million — after he had already spent nearly $101 million on another. 

The billionaire is operating in a different financial stratosphere from the rest of his competition, has a lot of money coming off the club’s books in 2025, doesn’t appear fazed by the luxury-tax penalties or surcharges that will arise in his quest to lift the Mets into a perennial contender and wasn’t going to forgo what might be the only chance he’ll get to secure a free agent of Soto’s talent in his prime years. No matter the cost or overpay, in an in-state battle for the best free agent on the market, he wasn’t going to relent. 

Even with Soto, the team’s estimated payroll for the upcoming season is still $85 million less than it was last season. Expect Cohen to keep adding. As long as that continues to happen for the next 15 years, and Soto can help bring championships to Flushing, Mets fans won’t care about how much one WAR should be worth. 

“I don’t know what he’s going to do when he’s 40,” Soto’s former manager, the Nationals’ Dave Martinez, said. “But I know what he’s going to do come Opening Day.” 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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