For as many questions Juan Soto received about joining the New York Yankees during his introductory Zoom press conference on Tuesday, there were as many geared toward his uncertain future.
The 25-year-old superstar, who was acquired from the San Diego Padres last week for five players, enters the 2024 season in a new home in the Bronx, which also just happens to be his walk year.
Soto is a free agent next winter and for a player of his magnitude, a handsome payday awaits him on the open market — whether that comes from the Yankees or elsewhere.
For now, it’s not something Soto is focusing on all that much.
“My priorities right now are just to get to know the team and get to know the guys,” Soto said. “I’m going to try to get a good relationship and try to really stick together and get to know those guys and push and try to get the same goal as they want. That’s what my main thing is right now about any contract stuff.”
Pressure has never appeared to impact one of the best pure hitters in baseball. He’s delivered on the game’s grandest stage, winning a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019. Over his six professional seasons, he boasts a career slash line of .284/.421/.524 (.946 OPS) with 162-game averages of 33 home runs and 100 RBI. Since his debut in 2018, his OPS ranks fourth in all of baseball behind only Mike Trout, his new teammate, Aaron Judge, and Yordan Alvarez while his on-base percentage ranks No. 1.
So keeping his focus during his walk year with a big payday looming and while being on a team with World Series aspirations won’t be much of an issue.
“I’ve been doing it for six years, now. It’s not going to be that hard because I have one of the best agents [Scott Boras] in the league,” Soto said. “I put everything on him and let him do his magic. My focus is to just come here and play baseball and try to win a championship.”
In the meantime, it appears that Soto will take this 2024 year to just enjoy being a part of one of the most imposing 1-2 punches in baseball alongside Judge.
“It’s going to be really fun,” Soto said. “It’s going to be more than exciting to share the field with him. He’s a great guy. He was one of the first guys that reached out to me… It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be really fun to see him play and hit and play in the outfield. I’ll try to pick his mind when I’m there and try to enjoy the moment while I’m there.”
How long he’ll be there, though, will be the lingering question that is going to hover over this Yankees team and general manager Brian Cashman all season.
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