Juan Soto’s Agent Explains Why San Diego Padres Deal Didn’t Happen

It sounds like there was a chance at one point last summer that Juan Soto could have remained with the San Diego Padres.

Apr 2, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) bats against the / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees may get Juan Soto into a long-term contract. They may not. But Soto will clearly get paid this offseason when he hits free agency for the first time.

But the New York Post wrote on Thursday that Soto was much closer to getting a long-term deal with the San Diego Padres last summer than some might believe.

Soto’s agent is Scott Boras, who tends to get his clients top dollar on the free-agent market, if you don’t count this past offseason when his clients, including Cody Bellinger and Blake Snell, failed to land long-term deals, the kind of deal most expect Soto to snag this offseason.

Boras engaged with the Padres on a long-term deal, even after they had paid players like Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis Jr. huge contracts. Boras deal with Padres management along with team owner Peter Seidler.

Boras and Seidler got to the point where they had secret discussion about a long-term deal but the conversations slowed down after Seidler’s health took a turn for the worse. Seidler died in November. The team never released the cause of his death, but Seidler did survive cancer twice and had an undisclosed procedure in September that kept him from attending Padres games.

Boras told the Post that Seidler “loved” Juan Soto and that Seidler called Boras about pursuing an extension with him.

But Seidler’s health kept the conversations from progressing, Boras said.

In December, Soto joined the Yankees, along with Trent Grisham, in a trade that netted the Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka,  along with pitchers Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe, the last a well-thought of prospect.

Soto had an incredible start of the 2023 season as he helped the Yankees get off to a 6-1 start as they head into Friday’s home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.