The New York Mets have signed Juan Soto, thus ending the Boston Red Sox's pursuit of the winter's biggest free agent.
Soto and the Mets have agreed to a 15-year, $756 million contract, the largest in sports history. The deal contains a $75 million signing bonus, no deferred money and an opt-out after five years.
For the first time in a long time, the Red Sox reportedly put their best foot forward to sign Soto. An industry source said Boston gave "an A+ effort" to sign the superstar, according to Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive. The Sox's largest bid was 15 years at $700 million.
Despite coming in tens of millions below the winning bid, Red Sox Nation can still be excited about Boston's offer — provided it finishes out the offseason right. The Red Sox showed how much they were willing to spend to be competitive after five long offseasons of little to no significant activity, and there are two star free agent pitchers who'd look great in Red Sox uniforms.
If Boston was willing to shell out a record-setting bid for Soto, it should have no problem giving Corbin Burnes or Max Fried whatever they need to play for the Red Sox. At Soto's price, the Sox could have both of them if they beat other clubs to the punch.
The Red Sox should take all the money they offered Juan Soto to the pitching market fast
Red Sox bid to Soto was in the 15 year, $700M range per @Sean_McAdam. Our story: https://t.co/JiwtP2hzdT
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 9, 2024
Pitching has been Boston's biggest need, and now that its funds and attention are no longer tied up in the Soto battle, it needs to pivot fast. The Red Sox have an advantage over the Yankees in the rebound from the Soto loss. The Sox didn't lose anything, but the Yankees now have an empty spot in right field that needs filling. The competition is going fast after Tyler O'Neill signed with the Orioles on Dec. 7, and the Dodgers and Teoscar Hernández have been linked plenty of times.
The Red Sox have met with Burnes and Fried, but so have plenty of other teams, and they'll both field plenty of calls during this week's Winter Meetings. Fried and Burnes have the first and second-lowest ERAs in baseball since 2020, respectively. Their markets will be insanely competitive, and the five-year, $182 million deal Blake Snell signed with the Dodgers will only increase their prices.
Early in the offseason, members of the Red Sox front office shared their lofty hopes of contending for the division title in 2025. With Soto off the market, signing elite pitching will be the best way to do it, and it'll cost more than they've spent in free agency in a long time. Boston already showed the rest of the teams in the race for free agent pitchers how much it's willing to spend. Now, the Sox's pursuit of pitchers will be up to speed.
The Red Sox also showed their fans how much they were willing to spend on Soto. There are no excuses for whiffing on top-tier pitching this time.