Juan Soto's looming megadeal means your least-favorite agent will rise like The Undertaker

It's the story that's loomed over every pitch of this MLB season, and especially this postseason: As soon as the final out of the World Series is recorded, Juan Soto becomes a free agent. Players like Soto — arguably the best pure hitter in the game, already a champion and just entering his prime at age 26 — hardly ever hit the market, and speculation as to which team would sign him to a long-term deal has run rampant ever since the New York Yankees acquired him from the San Diego Padres last winter.

As this season has progressed, that speculation has focused on two teams, both in the same city: The incumbent Yankees and the crosstown rival New York Mets. But the bidding war for a talent like Soto was never going to be limited to just two; he fits every roster and every competitive timeline, and every contender with two pennies to rub together is going to at least consider making a run at him.

Especially considering who his agent is: Scott Boras is never one to ignore a chance to make some extra money for he and his clients, and after a rough offseason last winter, he's extra motivated to work his magic in the Soto sweepstakes — a process that's already kicked into high gear this week.

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Scott Boras is already working overtime to secure a historic bag for Juan Soto

There's been a definite change in the tenor of the Soto rumor mill of late. Things seemed to be in a sort of holding pattern earlier this October; the Yankees and Mets were the frontrunners, hoping a deep postseason run could sway the star outfielder one way or the other. Over the past few days, however, it seems like there's a new whisper every hour: The Blue Jays are mulling a historic offer; wait, now the Phillies haven't ruled out a run at Soto; the Dodgers want in, but it's unclear if Soto wants to head back to the West Coast; actually, Soto was fine with the West Coast, and only got dealt from the San Diego Padres because of the untimely death of owner Peter Seidler.

It's enough to make your head spin. It's also the clearest indication yet that Boras still has his old Midas touch. This is what baseball's superagent does: always playing four-dimensional chess, viewing everyone is potential leverage to be exploited. Soto was in line to get a massive bag regardless, but the only way to really kick things into the stratosphere is to make the Yankees and Mets feel even antsier about their odds of landing him. The teams themselves have no reason to want this information leaked to the press; they're clearly coming from the player side, which means Boras — there's reason why the reports are always worded as "sources with knowledge of [TEAM]'s thinking".

Which, hey, all's fair in love, war and free agency. Boras' best-laid plans blew up in his face last winter, as top clients like Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and Matt Chapman had to wait until just before or even during spring training to sign deals that were nowhere near initial projections. After that display, there were whispers that Boras was losing his touch, that front offices had gotten wise to his maneuvering. This feels like a potent reminder: Boras still knows what he's doing, and now he's armed with a client that teams won't be able to help but trip over themselves to sign. Buckle up.