4 MLB teams that can afford to pay Juan Soto more than Shohei Ohtani

Juan Soto's been a free agent for exactly two days, and already the rumor mill has kicked into overdrive. If there was any doubt about the sort of bidding war this was going to be, Soto removed it after the New York Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series, remaining pointedly noncommittal about his future and telling reporters that all 30 teams would have a chance to pitch the outfielder on playing for them. Maybe he'll stay in the Bronx; maybe he'll join the crosstown New York Mets; maybe the Philadelphia Phillies are just lying in wait; maybe he doesn't hate the West Coast after all, and the Dodgers are inevitable.

Wherever he winds up, there's one thing we know for sure: Soto is going to get paid this winter. A player that good, at that age, fits every roster and every competitive timeline. All the league's heavy hitters are going to be in on him, and that's the kind of competition that agent Scott Boras knows what to do with. A ballpark for Soto's next contract started at around $500 million last winter, and has since grown to $600 million or even higher.

"But wait," you may be thinking. "Shohei Ohtani got $700 million, largely deferred, and he's an objectively more valuable player than Soto is." Which is, strictly speaking, correct. But it also misses the point: Contracts aren't determined by meritocracy; they're determined by leverage, and while Soto isn't the type of two-way phenom Ohtani is, he does have all the leverage in the world. So while he's not Ohtani as a player, here are four teams who might be willing and able to pay him like he is.

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4. San Francisco Giants

The Giants, true to form, have been mentioned only on the outskirts of the Soto sweepstakes. While it's unlikely that this is finally the time San Francisco lands the big free agent they've so desperately sought after, money certainly won't be an object. Blake Snell has already opted out, and if fellow pitcher Robbie Ray joins him, the Giants will have just $105.3 million in salary committed for 2025. For a team that has run its payroll north of $200 million in the past — and has plenty of built-in economic advantages — that's an awfully low number.

Again, Soto seems unlikely to sign up for a West Coast team that's been mired in mediocrity for the past few years. But if you're looking for a team that could come out of nowhere with a monster offer, one that even begins with a 7, look no further.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

How do we know the Blue Jays are up for an Ohtani-esque number? Well, because they were willing to literally pay Ohtani last winter, until the Great Flight-Tracking Debacle of 2023 resulted in him actually winding up in Dodger blue. But Toronto remains a major player: Its ownership group, Rogers Communications, is a massive company with very deep pockets, and the team should be desperate to put a winner on the field coming off a last-place finish and with both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette headed toward free agency.

If the Jays want to convince one or both of its foundational stars to stick around for the long haul, signing Soto would be a heck of a way to show the team's dedication to winning. And hey, there's already been some smoke linking Soto to Toronto in recent weeks.

2. New York Yankees

Let's start with the obvious: They're literally the New York Yankees. If any team can afford a $700 million contract, it's the Bronx Bombers, a franchise valued at something like $7.6 billion. Hal Steinbrenner's infuriating protestations to the contrary, this organization is swimming in cash, and it'll be even more so if it keeps making trips to the World Series with Soto in the outfield.

A Dominican star is tailor-made to play in the Bronx, and there should be no team more motivated to land Soto this winter. Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole aren't getting any younger, Gleyber Torres is hitting free agency himself and beyond them, there's not a whole lot of up and coming talent to speak of on this team. (All due respect to Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe.) If New York loses out on Soto, things could get awfully uncomfortable in a hurry, and expect Soto and Boras to use that to their advantage. No price should be too high here.

1. New York Mets

Of course, while the Yankees are the most desperate team in the running for Soto, they're not quite the richest. That honor goes to the richest owner in baseball, Steve Cohen of the New York Mets. We know that Cohen is willing to fire the money cannon, and with plenty of money coming off the books, team president David Stearns has already hinted at a big offseason coming. It could take a little something extra to pry Soto away from a team that he clearly enjoyed playing with in 2024, and the Mets need to go big if they want to once and for all usurp the Yankees atop New York's sports pecking order.

The Mets do have other holes to fill on this roster, particularly in the starting rotation, and Pete Alonso could leave a gaping hole at first base. But the chance to sign a player like Soto only comes around once in a generation or so, and Cohen might not get a better opportunity to vault his franchise into the stratosphere.