DALLAS (AP) — Juan Soto gets free use of a luxury suite and up to four premium tickets behind home plate for regular-season and postseason New York Mets home games as part of his record $765 million, 15-year contract that was finalized Wednesday.
The Mets also agreed to provide personal team security for the All-Star outfielder and his family at the team’s expense for all spring training and regular-season home and road games, according to details of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press. Major League Baseball teams usually provide security for player families in seating areas at ballparks.
New York also agreed to assist Soto's family for in-season travel arrangements, guaranteed Soto will have uniform No. 22 and included eight types of award bonuses.
Soto wore No. 22 with all his previous major league teams: the Nationals, Padres and Yankees. Young third baseman Brett Baty wore No. 22 with the Mets the past three seasons.
The Mets will formally introduce Soto in a news conference Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement. “Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree."
Soto's suite will be valued at the Mets' prevailing prices, presumably for tax purposes, and after 2025 he can by each Jan. 15 modify or give up his suite selection for the upcoming season. He can request the premium tickets, to be used by family members, no later than 72 hours before the scheduled game time.
The Yankees had refused to offer Soto a free suite.
“Some high-end players that make a lot of money for us, if they want suites they buy them ... whether it's CC (Sabathia), whether it’s (Aaron) Judge, whether it’s (Gerrit) Cole, whether it’s any of these guys," general manager Brian Cashman said. "We've gone through a process on previous negotiations where asks might have happened and this is what we did and we’re going to honor those, so no regrets there."
Cashman said the Yankees have a shared suite for player families and a family room with babysitting.
Soto gets a $75 million signing bonus, payable within 60 days of the agreement’s approval by the commissioner’s office. The deal for the 26-year-old slugger, which tops Shohei Ohtani's $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers, was reached Sunday pending a physical that took place Tuesday.
Soto receives salaries of $46,875,000 each in 2025 and 2026, $42.5 million in 2027, $46,875,000 apiece in 2028 and 2029 and $46 million in each of the final 10 seasons.
Soto has a contingent right to opt out of the agreement after the 2029 World Series to become a free agent again. But the Mets have an option to negate that opt-out provision by increasing the yearly salaries for 2030-39 by $4 million annually to $50 million and raising the total value to $805 million. If the club does not exercise its option to negate the opt-out provision by the third day after the World Series, Soto can make his opt-out decision by the fifth day after the Series.
He has a full no-trade provision and gets a hotel suite on road trips.
“Today’s signing further solidifies our organizational commitment to consistent championship competitiveness,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “Not only does Juan provide historic levels of on field production, but his joy, intensity, and passion for the game mirror our budding culture. We are thrilled to add him to our team and look forward to watching his excellence for years to come.”
Soto would receive a $500,000 bonus for winning his first Most Valuable Player award and $1 million for each MVP award. He would get $350,000 for finishing second in the voting and $150,000 for finishing third through fifth. Soto was third in AL voting this year.
He would earn $100,000 for each All-Star selection and Gold Glove, $350,000 for World Series MVP and $150,000 for League Championship Series MVP.
Soto would get $100,000 for selection to the All-MLB first or second team, $150,000 for a Silver Slugger award and $100,000 for the Hank Aaron Award.
Award bonuses are to be paid by the Jan. 31 after the season in which the bonus is earned.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
