s free agency will be the primary narrative this offseason until he chooses his next landing spot, though theres no indication that things are close. The 26-year-old superstar began meeting with teams this week but is still in the early stages of the proce s. For instance, that while the Red Sox feel their three-hour meeting with Soto and agent Scott Boras was productive, it was more introductory and informative than anything else. The two sides did not discu s years and dollars; the Sox pitched Soto on their plans for the future, their upcoming wave of high-end prospects and other aspects of the organization, while Soto sought to learn about their player evaluation methods, Fenway Parks facilities, etc. Its common for early meetings of this nature for top-end free agents to be introductory in nature, so this Tyler Rogers Jersey isnt nece sarily unique to Soto. The Red Sox havent been involved in the deep waters of free agency in recent offseasons. is the lone nine-figure expenditure for the Sox in the past five years. Since signing in 2015, the Red Sox have only gone beyond two years on a free agent four times (Story, , and ). Given that, its not surprising to see one of the elements Soto hoped to gauge (per McAdam) was the teams commitment to winning. That said, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that the Red Sox are approaching their pursuit of Soto with a level of intent that weve not seen from Boston in some time. Intent alone wont win the bidding, of course, but the Sox have not been characterized as major players for top-end free agents in recent years. All indications this offseason seem to signal a shift in direction. The incumbent Yankees and cro stown Mets are still perceived by many as the favorites to win the Soto bidding, once formal offers begin rolling in. To this point, it doesnt seem the proce s has reached that point. that the Yankees are comfortable going to 13 years and topping s $40MM annual salary in order to keep Soto, placing their baseline comfort level somewhere in the $520MM range overall. Most expectations are that Soto will exceed that mark by a fair margin, but its a notable starting point all the same. Meanwhile, at at the Blue Jays interest in Soto, noting that as was the case with last offseason, ownership views him as an exception to any other offseason budgetary plans. Torontos pursuit of Soto is not an indication that if the Jays mi s out on the star slugger, theyll pivot and spend $500-700MM elsewhere in free agency. Within his previously referenced column, Heyman doubles down on prior reporting that the Blue Jays plan to be aggre sive in their pursuit of Soto. Thats not nece sarily the case with all of his expected suitors. that the Dodgers wont chase after Soto, having already committed to nine more years of Ohtani and thus potentially restricting them in the event that Soto eventually needs to spend more time at designated hitter. Theyll be opportunistic and perhaps jump into the fray if the market doesnt develop as Soto hopes, though that seems unlikely, given the robust demand for his services and a potential Bronx-versus-Queens bidding war. Up until last winter, with Ohtani and , that was generally how Los Angeles had approached the market under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Though they regularly fielded one of the games largest payrolls and most star-studded rosters, most of the Dodgers star power over the years was acquired on the trade market (e.g. , ) or developed in-house (e.g. , , prior to his free agent departure). was the lone big-ticket free agent acquisition, and he came on board with a deferral-laden deal after an extended stay on the open market. That scenario almost certainly wont happen with Soto. As it stands, theres still no expected timetable for when Soto might reach a decision or when offers might be presented in earnest. The fact that the Red Sox didnt even delve into numbers speaks to the current preliminary stage of the bidding proce s. Its always po sible Soto could decide he wants to accelerate the proce s and have a team by the end of the month, but a decision at some point in December feels likelier. Gary Carter Jersey
Click here Click here Click here