On Thursday, the New York Mets signed four-time All-Star Juan Soto to a record-breaking $765 million 15-year contract. It’s the biggest deal in professional sports history.
Soto will become the first player in MLB to earn more than $50 million in a single season.
“Half the league wanted to participate,” Boras told CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” “A lot of teams were looking for that rare value because in the end, it was just good business to get it.”
Boras talked about the difficult decision to make to find the best fit for Soto and his team. A factor in his decision was his recent performance at Citi Field, where the Mets play.
“Juan Soto’s performance levels at Citi Field are well known to him,” Boras said. “He plays at his highest level and players think about execution. You think about all those factors.”
In Soto’s 35 games at Citifield, the left-handed hitter hit 12 home runs, 26 RBI and had a .466 on-base percentage and .709 slugging percentage.
His Longest home run His career high, 466 feet, came on August 12, 2020 at Citi Field.
Boras also revealed that it wasn’t all about the money for the 26-year-old.
“When you’re an athlete, you think about all the things, but you also mainly think about your routine, your performance,” Boras said. “There’s more to it than economics.”
Speaking at his introductory press conference, Soto said the Mets treated him like family.
“They showed me a lot of love in terms of what they had and how they were trying to make it comfortable. That’s one of the things that impressed me the most, and they were around me. How are we going to treat each individual and my family,” Soto said.