ESPN: The Yankees make a new Juan Soto offer

A week after claiming that the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees’ bitter rivals, were posing a “rising threat” to the team in their pursuit of generational free agent slugger Juan Soto, veteran baseball insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post said Monday that the Bombers are still very much in the running for the 26-year-old, who hit a career-high 41 home runs the previous season.

Heyman shared his most recent updates on the pursuit of Soto on the Foul Territory podcast, which is hosted by veteran Major League catcher A.J. Pierzynski and former MLB Network writer Scott Braun. The writer stated that he anticipates Soto’s decision in a matter of days.

“Perhaps” the Soto decision will be made in a week.
Heyman told the show, “I would say we’re only perhaps a week away from something coming to fruition.” “I believe there have been two bidding rounds. I believe we’ll go to the following round, and perhaps some teams will begin to be eliminated. I’m not sure if it will be made public or not.

However, Heyman stated that the Yankees are still “involved” and have a chance, even if there have been rumors that the Red Sox and the New York Mets are now serious candidates for Soto, which has the Yankees extremely concerned about their ability to keep the superstar.

According to Heyman, all five of the teams who have reportedly made offers to Soto are still in the running, at least until the conclusion of the next round of bidding. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays are still in the running for Soto, in addition to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets.

Heyman stated, “I would basically give any of these five teams a shot.” “Any of them.”

The Yankees “upgraded their initial bid” for Soto, “improving their position in a sweepstakes that involves at least five big-market teams,” according to Heyman’s New York Post piece last week.

It’s possible that Soto won’t accept the highest bid.
However, Heyman did not provide specifics about the Yankees’ increased offer. In order to give the star another opportunity to test free agency before turning 30, he did reveal that the Yankees had indicated their readiness to include opt-out terms in Soto’s deal. However, Heyman went on to say that since opt-out terms will be included by the other candidates for Soto’s services, the provision would most likely have no impact.