Juan Soto to Mets: Grading record $765 million contract - ESPN

A new era in New York baseball begins in 2025: Juan Soto has agreed to a record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets. The crosstown New York Yankees have long dominated the headlines in the Big Apple — with more success on the field, more star power in the lineup and bigger names signed in free agency. Even in 2024, as the Mets made a run to the National League Championship Series, the Yankees did better, reaching their first World Series since 2009.

But now Soto, coming off a season with the Yankees in which he hit .288/.419/.568 with 41 home runs, 128 runs scored and a third-place finish in the American League MVP voting, will take his lethal bat to Queens, where he has a chance to become the best hitter in Mets history. If Soto hits like he did in 2024, that's not hyperbole. His 178 OPS+ this past season tops the Mets' record (169, set by Howard Johnson in 1989). His 147 runs created would top David Wright's 146 from 2006. His 129 walks are more than any Mets player has ever drawn. Even his 41 home runs would rank tied for third, behind two seasons from Pete Alonso.

It's a franchise-altering move — at just 26 years old, Soto was not only the best free agent this offseason but one of the most sought-after in history. He brings in-his-prime offense and swagger to an organization still trying to find its way as a consistent winner and World Series contender. While the Yankees haven't had a losing season since 1992, the Mets have had 18 in that span. The Yankees have 25 playoff appearances since 1995; the Mets have just seven. The Mets have had a better record than the Yankees just four times since 1993.

Indeed, until Steve Cohen finalized his purchase of the team in November of 2020, the Mets had