The Boston Red Sox will know their fate in the Juan Soto sweepstakes soon.
Soto reportedly is whittling down his list of possible contenders and the Red Sox are presumed to still be in the mix. The New York Mets are viewed as the favorite for the 26-year-old outfielder.
It’s a pivotal step for Soto to take in the free agent process and ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed Wednesday on “SportsCenter” that Soto has a target date in mind for when he will come to a decision on where he will play next.
“The expectation is that there will be meetings over the weekend and it’s that point Juan Soto will decide where he’s going to go,” Passan said. “And we will know, at latest, by the time the Winter Meetings in Dallas start.”
All eyes from the baseball world certainly will be on the Winter Meetings, which are scheduled to start Sunday and last for four days.
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Passan noted that Soto will land a contract that at the minimum is worth at least $600 million over double-digit years and the top MLB insider speculated that Soto could get a 15-year deal that pays him over $700 million.
The Red Sox appear to be in good standing as things go down to the wire. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal labeled the Red Sox a “surprising force” in the pursuit of Soto and Boston also reportedly had franchise legends David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia along with current cornerstone Rafael Devers pitch in during the recruitment of Soto.
And the Red Sox will know in the very near future if they did enough to acquire a franchise-altering player.
Featured image via David Frerker/Imagn Images
