FACT: It Would Cost $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) For Juan Soto To Play In Tampa
NY POST - Seven teams that have called on Juan Soto are known, and while one is a major surprise — the homeless-at-the-moment Tampa Bay Rays...
For now, Tampa has to be viewed as a distant seventh on the list, as it’s hard to imagine them competing with the biggest markets in baseball...
Word is there are two more small- or middle-market teams interested, so while one mystery is revealed, there are others for the player who could command close to $700M.
It's actually insane to me that Juan Soto could earn a bigger contract than Shohei Ohtani based on two major factors: (1) Ohtani is one of the best pitchers in the world and (2) Soto doesn't want deferrals. So while Ohtani got a $700M contract, the net present value of the deal under the terms is closer to the $200M range. Or something like that.
Soto on the other hand wants all his money paid out in the lifetime of the contract with no deferrals. So that inherently makes for a higher cost, and he doesn't pitch like Ohtani.
And honestly I don't think he's as good offensively as Ohtani but that's a different blog for a different day. Ultimately you're talking about 2 of maybe the 4 or 5 best players in the world. And again - I don't quite understand how Soto could get a bigger or even equitable deal to Ohtani's $700M, but I digress.
The most interesting thing in the Soto sweepstakes now is that the Rays are throwing their hat in the ring. At first glance it's easy to laugh at because it's the Rays and they're broke and roofless. But also remember they had a competitive AAV for Freddie Freeman just two years ago:
Dodgers: 6 years at $162M = $27M
Braves: 5 years at $140M = $28M
Rays: 6 years at $150M = $25M
And this was shortly after giving $182M to Wander Franco for 11 years - so there's some precedence. It's not like the White Sox who have never given a $100M contract where their largest FA signing still remains Andrew Benintendi. It's not the Athletics charging players $0.50 for a can of Barq's Root Beer. Or the Brewers running a minor league gameday operations strategy to keep fans engaged. There's much weaker and pathetic organizations than the Rays in MLB.
Even so - it's still kinda crazy to think that the Rays even have the balls to ask about Juan Soto when we know a guy like Steve Cohen has publicly said he won't be outbid. We know the Yankees will then match every dollar probably up to a billion while the Dodgers put together an emotional powerpoint laden with incentives and championship opportunities. Then consider the next layer of teams that have no problem spending aggressively: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Giants, Reds, etc. You start laying out the facts and it forces you to wonder How The Fuck Are The Rays Even Starting The Conversation?
Here's what I'd probably say
Poor Rays fans. They're probably exhausted with being the laughing stock of baseball despite all their success. 5 playoffs in the last 6 years with a joke payroll, bullshit stadium and roster of misfits. Even then you can't even enjoy your offseason rumor mill without the national audience laughing at your futility.
Beef Loaf slays but that's a different blog.
For now I would just like to point out that a healthy Juan Soto will be worth every penny paid to him.
With that, how much do you think Tampa would have to offer for him to accept. Assume the Mets agree for 10 years and $750,000,000. How much does Tampa have to pay to get Juan Soto away from Queens?
My guess is at least one billion dollars to play in Tampa. That's my guess. I think that's fair but I don't work in a front office because I can't speak spanish.
What do you guys think? Is $1,000,000,000 enough money for you to spend the rest of your career in Tampa? I say yes but I'm a sucker for the MILF scene in Naples. Lots of big perky racks looking for the kinda attention a guy like me has to give but I digress. Point is I think one billion dollars gets this deal done, which is most certainly never going to happen.