Juan Soto is the biggest name of the 2024-25 MLB offseason and his dance card fills up accordingly. Each of the league’s biggest spenders are reportedly looking for a free agent slugger who is coming off another All-Star season in his lone year with the New York Yankees.

Soto is expected to fight for a contract worth between the reported value of Shohei Ohtani’s record deal ($700 million) and the actual value of the contract after adjusting for inflation and deferrals (around $440 million). dollars). This is going to be a mammoth piece of paper, the only question is which team will be on it.

As such, people are very interested in Soto’s schedule for this week. By ESPN’s Jeff Passanfour teams are having meetings with Soto and mega-agent Scott Boras, although that probably doesn’t mean the other 26 teams are out of the running.

Let’s take a look at each of these four teams, what they bring to Soto, and how seriously we take them as candidates for his services.

Toronto Blue Jays

Serious counter: 3/5

Let’s go back to about a year ago, when the Blue Jays appeared to be about to land on Ohtani. Countless MLB fans were following a flight tracker supposedly containing the Japanese superstar as if it were the lunar module, and it all ended in a slightly embarrassing lesson in scrutinizing reports in a high-stakes media environment students.

Still, it was never in dispute that the Jays were willing to pay the price for Ohtani. He just liked more of what the Dodgers brought to the table. And now Toronto has a chance against another superstar.

It’s easy to forget that the Blue Jays are a big-market team, but they are. They have money and plenty of reasons to spend big right now. THE the team took a step back this year after four consecutive competitive seasons and will try to win again in 2025, which is shaping up to be a breakthrough year.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a free agent after next season, and the best way to make this year count would be to add another elite bat. Soto is also good friends with Guerrero, who the Jays will want to keep as happy as possible.

New York Mets

Serious counter: 5/5

There’s a good chance the bidding war for Soto will come down to who is more willing to spend stupid money. THE The Mets would have the advantage.

Mets owner Steve Cohen, the richest owner in baseball, has made it clear that he is willing to ignore all rational business sense if it makes his boyhood team a World Series winner. For this reason, the Mets have been rumored as a potential destination for Soto for years.

The Mets are still building a powerhouse in the National League and adding the best young hitter in baseball, while taking him away from their crosstown rival in the process, would go a long way. The fit here is so clear it’s almost boring, at least until we see the final price.

New York Yankees

Serious counter 5/5

You can probably bet the Yankees won’t make it easy for Soto to leave. Allowing Soto to walk would significantly damage the team’s credibility moving forward.

Last year’s Soto trade went about as well as the Yankees could have hoped. He had another elite season at the plate, hitting .288/.419/.569 and ranking third in MLB in OPS+, and seemed to be having fun doing it. He played an integral role in New York’s first World Series appearance since 2009.

Replacing Soto, even overall, would be extremely difficult. Missing him would mean the Yankees would have to pursue several other premium free agents, such as Pete Alonso and Teoscar Hernández, to avoid a significant roster drop.

When baseball’s premier franchise has the most to lose in a free agent bidding war, it’s hard not to expect it to fare well. We saw this play out two years ago and the result was a nine-year, $360 million contract for Aaron Judge. This one will probably be more expensive.

Boston Red Sox

Serious counter: 3/5

This is a pretty interesting situation for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in three seasons.

The Red Sox still have plenty of talent, including 2024 star Jarren Duran and franchise mainstay Rafael Devers. They have an enviable collection of upcoming minor league talent with four of the top 25 prospects in the MLB pipeline. They have no shortage of financial resources as one of the most popular teams in MLB.

And, like the Mets, they could massively undercut the Yankees just by drafting one guy. Signing Soto will likely require trading him as the team approaches the next competitive era, but that argument seems simple.

It’s also worth noting that, in park terms, Fenway Park is the equivalent of Coors Field for left-handed hitters like Soto.

So these are the four teams whose Soto meetings were reported. Let’s also take a quick look at the other three teams listed by Jon Heyman of the New York Post as suitors to Soto, with a note that they could always plan a meeting with him.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Serious counter: 3.5/5

Want to know what’s terrifying about the Dodgers? They can afford Soto.

This wouldn’t require much stretching. They are currently enjoying the financial rewards of their World Series victory, following a year of unprecedented sponsorship from Japanese companies seeking to partner with Ohtani. Ohtani’s contract might already be the biggest deal in baseball given his postponements, and that means the Dodgers can hunt big game again if they want.

Even though they feel like a titan on the rise, the Dodgers didn’t have the biggest payroll in MLB last season. They were third, behind the Mets and the Yankees. This would be a really fun way to become first.

Yet Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman once said, “If you’re always rational about every free agent, you’ll finish third for every free agent.” » The Dodgers might just be the most rational here, especially if it means raising the price for the Mets and Yankees.

San Francisco Giants

Serious counter: 2/5

Much like the Blue Jays with Ohtani, it helps to remember that the Giants were big on Judge two years ago. This is a team that recently gained total control of the highly lucrative Bay Area, with a new leadership led by Buster Posey.

The Giants still lack a superstar to build their team around, and Soto would certainly fit the bill.

Tampa Bay Rays

Serious counter: 1/5

Even Heyman seemed surprised when one of the poorest teams in MLB was mentioned as a suitor for Soto, but let’s take a serious look at the Rays. Yes, the Rays are notoriously reluctant to spend, but they would have offered 2024 World Series MVP Freddie Freeman more money than anyone. They are also regularly competitive and just got out of $182 million deal with Wander Franco.

Again, come on. They might have been willing to pay Freeman around $25 million per year, but Soto could get double that per year. This is also a team about to play an entire season in a A minor league stadium after Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Fieldwhich won’t be an easy sell for Soto and won’t help the team’s finances.