The Yankees are making it clear they are very serious about retaining Juan Soto.
Just a couple of days after making their initial bid to the superstar outfielder, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Bronx Bombers have upgraded their offer.
The Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Blue Jays are the other four teams with offers on the table.
Exact terms haven’t been revealed just yet, but Soto is said to be seeking something in the 15-year range rather than a high-AAV short-term pact, and he’s expected to set a new record for contract value with team willing to exceed $600 million.
According to Heyman, the Yankees and others have told Soto that they’d be willing to include opt-outs in the package.
New York has also been in contract with top of the market starting pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, but their main focus at the moment is trying to retain the 26-year-old slugger who helped carry them to an AL Pennant last season.
Soto put together as good of a contract-year as you can get, as he took home his third career Silver Slugger after hitting a career-high 41 homers and driving in 109 runs across 157 games.