Juan Soto's record deal with Mets reminds Pirates fans of baseball's strong financial divide between haves and have nots

Noah Hiles, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 9, 2024

Published in Baseball

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DALLAS — While Major League Baseball’s 2024 Winter Meetings were scheduled to begin Monday morning, a record-breaking deal involving one of the sport’s top talents kicked off the offseason event a bit earlier than expected. On Sunday evening, the New York Mets signed former Yankees outfielder Juan Soto to a 15-year deal worth $765 million. The contract is the largest in the history of professional sports.

The one major North American sports league with no true salary cap, large contracts are far from uncommon in the game of baseball. Soto’s deal, however, was different. Conversation of the 26-year-old’s new contract dominated the event Monday, generating reactions from the entire baseball world, including members of the Pirates organization.

“Yeah, [the sport] has definitely changed,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Soto’s deal. “I think our game has changed probably more than any other game in terms of the rules, but the product on the field and the amount of money, I mean, I think it shows you that baseball is strong and that there's good players out there. He's a very good player.”

While Shelton, along with most other managers who spoke Monday, offered their thoughts on Soto, few teams — mainly two — were legitimately involved in bidding for his services. Reports over the past month indicated that just four clubs were actively pursuing Soto in free agency: The Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Mets. And when the bidding truly became serious, only the two New York clubs were left standing.

The Mets’ and Yankees’ battle for Soto’s elite bat created enthralling theater for many baseball fans. But for at least a few Pittsburgh baseball supporters, it also provided a harsh reminder that for many clubs, watching from afar will be the only type of excitement they will likely experience when it comes to deals involving players of Soto’s magnitude.

“The fact that he got to this point, at this age, I think he absolutely deserves every dollar that he got,” Jim Rosati, a devoted Pirates fan and McDonald native who hosts the popular Pirates fan podcast NorthShore Nine, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I think it sucks that there are only three or four teams out there that basically made a play at him. That sucks, as a fan of the Pirates. The fact that you know you’re just never, ever going to have a player like that come in through free agency, it’s definitely disheartening.”

As Rosati, and his podcast co-host Ryan DiNardo, processed the major offseason news at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, many back in Pittsburgh shared a similar reaction, highlighting the financial inequalities that exist in today’s game.

“Pirates total payroll last 10 years: $726 million. Juan Soto contract: $765 million,” 93.7 the Fan host Andrew Fillipponi posted to X Sunday evening. “What a sport.”

Of course, not every standout player in today’s game will receive Soto-level money moving forward. Only the top echelon of ball players will be in the mix for a payday of such stature. But as many are aware, one of the next possible bidding wars could occur over a player on the Pirates’ roster — Rookie of the Year award winning right-hander, Paul Skenes.

“You have to imagine when Skenes hits free agency, if he keeps on the same trajectory, he’s going to be on that pay level,” Rosati said. “There are only going to be less than a handful of teams that can pay for his services, and the Pirates absolutely aren’t going to be one of those.”

Having just made his major league debut in May, Skenes won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2029 season, barring an extension. The Pirates still have multiple years to compete with the superstar right hander while he’s still available at a discounted rate. But after that, he too could only be afforded by the league’s highest paying franchises.

“Maybe it’s just the nature of being a Pirates fan,” DiNardo told the Post-Gazette. “You just know one day it’s going to happen, and you move on. You already see some teams signing pitchers to deals that will expire when Skenes hits the market. They know he’s the next big target.”

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