Insider gives hopes to Mets, Cubs and more with Juan Soto-Yankees update

Details emerged recently about New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and his eagerness to pursue an in-season extension with his 25-year-old superstar, Juan Soto. The idea is that the Yankees, who are notorious for spending more money than every other non-Dodgers franchise in baseball, could come to terms with Soto and his agent Scott Boras while the season goes on.

Now, this gets complicated for a multitude of reasons. The first, most pressing reason, is the agent in question, Mr. Scott Boras. Boras rarely, if ever, negotiates very much in season, rather using free agency as leverage to land his clients the best deal possible.

MLB insider Jon Heyman seems to think that, despite the rumors, Soto will enter free agency at the end of the year.

MLB Insider throws cold water on the idea of a Yankees-Soto in-season contract extension

To this point, Juan Soto has turned down seven contract offers, including an offer well over $400 million. He's done this for one simple fact, Heyman says, and that is to enter free agency.

Soto, who's in the middle of yet another MVP-caliber season, is likely to break every contract record imaginable, besides the $700 million deal signed by Shohei Ohtani. Soto may receive a deal closing in on half a billion dollars, locking him down for close to the remainder of his career.

This isn't to say that he won't resign with the Yankees, but it does give hope to teams like the Cubs and the Mets who are drooling at the opportunity to negotiate with the young superstar. The Yankees will absolutely throw him a multitude of intriguing offers, but so will a lot of teams. And that is the entire point of Boras continuing to choose free agency over and over again.

As for Soto, his contract couldn't expire at a better time. He's likely the favorite for the AL MVP award at this point in the year, where he's slashing .302/.403/.517 with 18 extra-base hits.

As Heyman said, Soto will listen to the Yankees in-season offers. It's just not very likely. Why would Soto accept a deal now when he can negotiate with the entire like in a few months? The rest of the league is drooling over the idea of "Unrestricted free agent, Juan Soto."