The New York Mets certainly made a statement right around the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings by handing Juan Soto a historic $765 million deal.
Soto is a generational talent and at just 26 years old it’s not surprising that New York wants to build around him for the next 15 years. He’s young and on a Hall of Fame path if he can remain healthy. The Mets clearly are looking for ways to get over the hump and earn a trip to the World Series and Soto should help with that.
But, will his deal end up getting topped at some point?
FanSided’s Chris Landers, Robert Murray, Terrence Jordan, and Zachary Rotman took a look at the current landscape around baseball and attempted to predict the answer to this very question. Both Jordan and Landers mentioned Cincinnati Reds young All-Star Elly De La Cruz as a possible option.
“The right answer is that it’s probably some 15-year-old Japanese kid that nobody knows about yet, but if we’re going with someone that’s already in the majors, give me Elly De La Cruz,” Jordan said. “Most of the game’s biggest stars will be too old to command a record-setting contract when they re-enter free agency, but Cruz will only be 27 by the time he’s ready to cash in. His combination of power and speed has already made him one of the most electric players in baseball, and if he can continue to grow, the sky’s the limit for his next payday.”
Landers followed.
“If I had to pick somebody, though, give me Elly De La Cruz: His game hasn’t totally caught up to his tools yet, but he just put up a 5-win season at age 22, and it feels like he’s still just scratching the surface,” Landers said. “If it all comes together, the sky is the limit, and he’ll still be only 27 when he hits free agency.”
Soto’s deal certainly took the baseball world by storm and won’t be topped anytime soon. De La Cruz is just 22 years old, though, maybe he will shock the world too.
