Red Sox and Juan Soto Set Meeting, Boston Plans to be Aggressive, Report Says

Getty Juan Soto

The Boston Red Sox will be the second team to meet with free agent slugger Juan Soto, according to a report by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Soto, 26, will first sit down with executives from the Toronto Blue Jays.

The meetings will take place later this week in California, Passan reported, adding that the Red Sox place Soto at the top of their “want list” and will be aggressive in pursuing the Dominican Republic native who has already played for three teams. Soto spent 2024 with the New York Yankees. Before that, the Washington Nationals traded him to San Diego at the 2022 deadline.

Of course, it would not be surprising for Boston to list Soto as their top target. The Red Sox were short on power bats in 2024. At the same time, they were overloaded on lefties. Soto, a lefty, would not solve the Red Sox’ problem from the right side of the plate. Whether that will be a factor in the Red Sox decision whether to make a bid for Soto remains to be seen.

Soto’s OPS Was 3rd in MLB in 2024

Soto would clearly be an asset to any team. His .419 on-base percentage was second in baseball in 2024, while his .569 slugging percentage was fourth. Those numbers combined for an OPS of .989, placing him third in the big leagues behind only second-place Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers (1.036) and Soto’s 2024 New York Yankees teammate Aaron Judge who led the majors at 1.159, thanks largely to his 58 home runs.

But Soto’s total of 41 dingers was good enough for fourth overall. That number was a career high for Soto. Prospective free agent suitors may wonder whether Soto, who had never topped 35 homers in any of his previous six seasons, benefited from Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field. In fact, Soto hit one more round-tripper on the road in 2024 (21) than he did at home.

Soto will come with a stratospheric price tag, however. That could be a deterrent to the Red Sox, who have been reluctant at least for the past five seasons to shell out big dollars. Rafael Devers is the exception. Prior to the 2023 season, the Red Sox inked Devers to a 10-year, $313.5 million contract. That was the largest contract in Red Sox history in terms of total value, and the sixth largest in MLB history.

Red Sox Have Been Reluctant to Shell Out Big Bucks

But the Devers deal came after the Red Sox let two star players go rather than shell out the big bucks for them. After the 2019 season, Boston traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers after Betts won the American League MVP award just a year earlier. Betts then signed a 12-year, $365 million contract with Los Angeles.

Before the 2023 season, the Red Sox let All Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts walk in free agency. Bogaerts then inked an 11-year, $280 million pact with the San Diego Padres.

Boston’s most prolific righty slugger in 2024 was outfielder Tyler O’Neil, whose 31 home runs led the team, and whose OPS of .511 was just a shade behind Devers (.511).

But after coming over from the St. Louis Cardinals prior to last season, O’Neill will likely depart the Red Sox. The team failed to extend him the $21.05 million qualifying offer that would entitle Boston to draft-pick compensation if O’Neill signed elsewhere. Now the 29-year-old, seven-year MLB veteran from British Columbia, Canada, is free to leave in free agency without any draft penalty to the team that signs him.