Padres Looking to Lock Up Juan Soto, Josh Hader with Contract Extensions
Earlier this week, the Padres took a preemptive strike on third baseman Manny Machado's plans to opt out of his contract after the 2023 season, instead inking him to a new, 11-year deal worth $350 million. They already had shortstop Xander Bogaerts under contract for that same amount of time, and shortstop-turned-outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. for a year after that.
Now, they've set their sights on outfielder Juan Soto. San Diego acquired Soto at the trade deadline last year, and he has two years left on his existing contract. But according to Jon Heyman in the New York Post, the Friars are very interested in never letting Soto reach free agency.
Soto's agent is Scott Boras, and Boras clients generally like to get to free agency rather than signing extensions. But as Heyman writes, Soto is at least willing to listen.
“We’re open to talking, we’re just waiting,” Soto said in the Padres clubhouse, referring to himself and Boras.
Boras isn’t known for passing up chances for free agency with great players, especially extraordinarily young ones.
But the Padres are determined.
Perhaps the most important thing about being a Boras client is the convoluted metaphors, and Soto is no different.
“It’s very rare that a team can put together a group of players in the primes of their careers, or close to the prime, where there are four players at this level,” Boras said. “For the Padres, they’ve moved a mountain to San Diego. And it’s called Mt. Crushmore.”
There's a beer, a band, and a line of women's nails called Mount Crushmore, so hopefully Boras doesn't run into any copyright issues.
As Heyman notes, Boras's glowing review doesn't mean much when it comes to negotiations.
Don’t assume those nice words means it’ll be easy.
Boras called Soto a “generational” player and stressed the value of age, mentioning Soto has nine more prime years before he’s 32 (compared to three for Machado).
Soto previously rebuffed a record $440 million — coincidentally also his on-base percentage the past three years (.440).
“It’s a business at the end of the day,” Soto said. “I just want to come out here and concentrate on playing baseball. I’ll let Scott do the job.”
The Padres would also like to lock up Hader, who is a free agent after this season, and while he won't demand nearly the same money as Soto, he has the same basic philosophy.
“It’s a great place to be, but at the end of the day business is business,” he said.
Hader also said he would “absolutely” listen to any overture by the team.
“If it’s a conversation they want to have, we’ll definitely have it,” he said.
San Diego owner Peter Seidler surely has his financial limits, but he hasn't found them yet. And if he's serious about locking up Soto and Hader, the limits must be higher than you'd think.
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