LOS ANGELES — High-powered agent Scott Boras stands near his front-row seat at Dodger Stadium, looks at his client – soon-to-be one of the wealthiest athletes in the world – and can’t stop but think about how history could have been dramatically altered.
Boras wouldn’t be watching Freddie Freeman’sgrand slam in Game 1, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s gem in Game 2, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees in this World Series.
He wouldn’t be watching the Yankees vying for their first World Series since 2009, ending their longest drought in three decades.
Boras believes he’d still be watching All-Star right fielder Juan Soto in the World Series, but he’d be wearing a San Diego Padres uniform.
“If (Padres owner) Peter Seidler were still alive,’ Boras told USA TODAY Sports, “none of this would be happening. Juan would have been with the Padres. He never would have been traded to the Yankees.
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“He’d be a Padre today.’
And a Padre for the rest of his career.
“Peter and I were knee-deep in Juan Soto (contract) discussions,’ Boras reveals. “Well advanced. His illness really stopped the process because we knew the organization would be different. He wanted to push it through even though he was ill.’
The contract was never consummated.
“I have a text message from him four days before he died,’ Boras said. ”Be back online real quick.’ ‘
Three weeks later, Soto was traded to the Yankees.
“That doesn’t happen if Peter is alive,’ Boras said. “Where we were at, Peter would have gotten the deal done. We were very close. Peter was not afraid.’
Never, Boras said, would Seidler have permitted Soto to be traded to the Yankees – or anywhere else.
“Peter was not trading Juan Soto,’ Boras said. “No way. He kept saying, ‘I traded for a franchise. I’m not giving him up.’ He couldn’t believe they [the Nationals] traded Juan Soto. He loved Juan.’
If the Padres kept Soto, the Yankees aren’t the benefactors of his spectacular season.
And if the Padres had kept Soto, well, he perhaps he doesn’t become one of the greatest young stars to hit the free-agent market in baseball history – posting a 8.1 WAR this season and at least a 6.0 WAR in three of the last four seasons.
“In my mind, there is elite WAR, and then the rest of the players,’ Boras said. “An elite player has an evaluation that is so extreme because he brings in market, he brings in fans and he brings in broadcasting [revenue] which adds to the valuation of the player in addition to what he does on the field.’
Soto, 26, could soon become the highest-paid player in history, earning a contract in excess of $500 million, which would eclipse the present-day value of Shohei Ohtani’s contract deal the Dodgers. Although Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract, $680 million is deferred without interest for 10 years, giving it a value of $460 million, according to MLB’s calculations.
“The story of how he got to free agency is remarkable,’ Boras said. “A young Dominican kid who had to go through all of the [crap] to get to free agency. It’s just a testament to his intellect, turning down $100 million, $200 million, $300 million, $400 million offers.’
Soto was ultimately offered a 15-year, $440 million contract by the Washington Nationals in 2022, after rejecting three earlier offers, making him the highest-paid player in history at the time.
Soto flatly rejected the offer. He didn’t make a counter. The Nationals, fearing that Soto was committed to testing the free agent market in 2 ½ years, traded Soto to the San Diego Padres in July 2022.
Soto helped lead the Padres to the National League Championship Series, losing in six games to the Philadelphia Phillies. It only whet Seidler’s appetite to build a powerhouse that could challenge the Dodgers in the NL West. They went on a spending spree, signing shortstop Xander Bogaerts, giving Manny Machado a $350 million contract extension – and even offered Aaron Judge more than $400 million.
The Padres grossly underachieved, didn’t reach the postseason with a 82-80 record and let manager Bob Melvin depart for San Francisco.
The Padres, who lost more than $200 million in 2023, immediately began to slash their payroll by $90 million, and to make sure they stayed below the luxury tax, began openly shopping Soto before eventually trading him in a seven-player package.
Soto, who became part of the most dynamic 1-2 punches in history with Judge, led the Yankees to their first American League pennant since 2009 after missing the postseason last year, and is doing everything in his power in October to make sure they win a 28th title.
Soto, who celebrated his 26th birthday Friday, has homered four times this postseason, and in three of the Yankees’ past four games, including his three-run homer in the 10th inning of the Yankees’ ALCS-clinching win in Cleveland. He’s hitting .350 (14-for-40) with a 1.160 OPS in the Yankees’ 11 games.
“You can be the best player, you can do whatever you want,’ Soto said. “But at the end of the day, people remember you if you win a World Series and what you did for that team.”
The Yankees haven’t hidden their desire to have him return. The crosstown Mets, with the richest owner in baseball in Steve Cohen, could be beckoning. The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to strongly pursue him to team up with Boras client Bryce Harper. The Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, who were left at the altar in the Ohtani bidding war last winter, will now turn their attention to Soto.
Soto’s value has soared to such levels that Boras, who usually has his company produce a glossy binder that he presents to clubs to illuminate an individual star’s value, may not even bother with Soto.
“He has more elite years to offer,’ Boras said, “and a ceiling that is even higher than what he’s already done.’
Who knows the ultimate price tag, but if Soto receives a 15-year contract, littered with opt-out clauses, no one would be surprised. Teams believe that Soto could be worth the record investment.
Certainly, there’s no need for algorithms to valuate his popularity among Yankee fans. Those sentiments were expressed_loud and clear_with fans chanting, “Re-Sign Soto! Re-Sign Soto!’ during their pennant-clinching victory in Cleveland, with Soto running over to the stands and raising his arms.
“He’s been a great Yankee because he’s a generational player,” Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said. “He’s great, period. The Yankees are the mecca of baseball and he’s right where he needs to be. There’s no stage too big for him.
“We need him to stay. He’s going to stay.’
The Yankees can sweet-talk him all they want, the fans can chant his name from their morning coffee to their evening cocktail, but money talks the loudest.
“He’s had a hell of a run,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. “He’s enjoyed it. He’s performed. He’s felt like he’s always been here, the way he’s acclimated himself.
“He’s earned the right to be a free agent. So all those type of discussions will happen [after the World Series.].’
Soto has reiterated that he’d love to stay with the Yankees, but, of course there will be no hometown discount. Money talks and if it’s close, the deciding factor will be if the team plans to be a perennial World Series contender.
“Definitely every player wants to be happy with where they’re at,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, whenever you win, you’re really going to be happy.
“So, wherever you are that you have a chance to win a championship, you’re going to be excited to play for them. I think that’s the biggest thing. That’s the biggest mindset right now.
“See where’s the best chance for that, and go from there.”
For now, well, there’s still a World Series to win.
“It ain’t over yet,’ Soto said.
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