The sole winner in Juan Soto’s $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets is Soto.
The Mets are actively contributing to the problem rather than providing a solution. The problem is? MLB requires a salary cap. Nothing stops teams like the Mets. Baseball’s first $1 billion contract is only a few years away as salaries skyrocket. That is frankly ludicrous.
Nobody is criticizing the players here, either. Collect every cash you can. However, Soto is the lone victor here. He’s only 26 years old now, but by the end of this contract, he’ll be 41. He will not be the same superstar he is now.
While he could bring the Mets their long-awaited championship, they could also pay for it. They very likely will at some point; the question is when.
How many times have we witnessed these large contracts go wrong? The Mets are still paying Bobby Bonilla. If we want to compare sports, ask the Cleveland Browns how their record-breaking contract is working out for them.
It appears that the pay cap dilemma will continue until it is too late. Or never.
Last summer, the Los Angeles Dodgers granted Shohei Ohtani a $700 million contract with $680 million deferred, implying that Ohtani will get that money for much longer than ten years. How is this allowed?
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who broke the news of Soto’s record-breaking deal, Soto’s contract contains no deferred money.
The Dodgers won the World Series promptly, defeating the New York Yankees in five games. In 2022, the Yankees signed superstar Aaron Judge to a nine-year, $360 million contract.
It sometimes pays to buy a title, literally.
Judge was the highest-paid player in baseball history when he signed the agreement. There are many other pricey players.
Mookie Betts signed a $365 million agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He isn’t even his team’s best player. And now, Soto will earn more than Judge and Betts combined.
Mike Trout’s contract with the Los Angeles Angels is worth more than $426 million. He hardly ever plays. Similarly to Soto, the San Diego Padres will owe Manny Machado payments on his $350 million contract until he turns 41. That will not age nicely.
Are you noticing a trend? These contracts don’t make much sense.
Not to mention, it will eventually devalue baseball’s product. It is already happening. The finest aspect about the MLB playoffs is the “anything can happen” mentality. The opposite is true in the NBA, where winning a championship requires a superteam effort. In the NFL, you nearly always need a great quarterback partnered with a brilliant coach, and everything must go perfectly.
The MLB playoffs were different, as any club might get hot at the perfect time and win a title.
The 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks could be a thing of the past. It’s evident that the Dodgers and Mets are here to stay, and you should never underestimate the pinstripes.
While baseball requires superstars, it also must level the playing field with every other professional sports league.
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