By Navy Minkoff
New York has two major baseball franchises, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. These big market teams make huge yearly splashes, offering multi-million dollar contracts to the biggest stars. This year, the Mets made the most notable move of the offseason, signing former Padre, National, and Yankee Juan Soto to a $765 Million contract. Was Juan Soto worth all of that money? His contract sent shockwaves through the sports world, as the most valuable in all of baseball.
Soto is a multi-time all-star winner and has even won a World Series. In 2024, Soto had some impressive numbers: 41 home runs, a .288 batting average, and a .419 on-base percentage. These stats show that Soto is one of the best in the league, but the stats are not substantially better than other top players, as he did not finish first in any of these stat categories.
Senior Scott Edwards said, “The best players in the game are making 300 million dollars. Is Soto that much better to where he gets to make 400 million dollars more?”
Furthermore, according to ESPN, Soto has a lower on-base percentage this year(.384), a lower batting average(.254), and is on pace for just 23 home runs in 2025. These stats are far worse proportional to Soto’s contract. However, the Mets have had a very successful season, as they are currently one of the best teams in the league, with a 23-14 record.
On the other side of the signing was the team that lost Soto to free agency, the New York Yankees. The Yankees still made tons of free agency signings, using the assets not used on Soto for stars such as pitcher Max Fried, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and outfielder Cody Bellinger. The Yankees have been relatively successful, holding a 20-16 record.
On the Yankees’ relative success, Junior Kevin Lyons said, “Rather than spending all of their money on one player, they were able to distribute this money into some key pieces.”
All of the stats and information in this article are as of May 7th, 2025.
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