The 26-year-old Dominican free agent makes MLB history with a 15-year deal that shatters records and sets New York’s lovable losers on a new path.

Free agent Juan Soto landed the most lucrative deal in professional sports history on Sunday, reaching agreement on a massive 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets, according to ESPN.

With his decision, the former New York Yankee broke the hearts of Bronx Bomber fans everywhere while obliterating previous MLB pay records and sending shockwaves through the sports world.

At only 26, Soto surpasses Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Unlike Ohtani’s blockbuster deal that includes $680 million in deferred payments in future years, not a penny of Soto’s deal is deferred, according to ESPN, and the contract could even be worth more than $800 million. Soto also pockets a $75 million signing bonus.

Soto’s contract isn’t just the richest ever—it’s historic because Soto is such a youngster, with only seven seasons in the majors.

His nickname, Childish Bambino, is a wordplay on his youthfulness (after rapper Childish Gambino) and his Hall of Fame destiny (after Yankees slugger Babe Ruth known as The Great Bambino).

The staggering size of the deal isn’t just about the four-time All Star’s .285 career batting average, 201 home runs, or the fact that he’s been one of the best hitters in the league since he burst onto the scene at 19.

Juan Soto in action against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Five of the 2024 World Series at Yankee Stadium on October 30, 2024 in New York City. The Dodgers defeated the Yankees 7-6.Getty Images

The Met’s gigantic gamble aims to reverse the misfortunes of an underdog team that hasn’t won the World Series since 1986 and has racked up an epic run of collapses and failures.

In the end, five teams chased Soto, a once-in-a-generation player whose hitting prowess has been compared to Hall of Famer Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, a legend with an astonishing lifetime batting average of .344 across 19 seasons.

The so-called Juan Soto Derby featured the Mets, New York Yankees (where he played the 2024 season), Boston Red Sox, Los Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Why Is Soto Worth This Much?

Soto isn’t just a hitter with a trademark shuffle at the plate; he’s a statistical unicorn and the toughest out in baseball going back to 2015 when the so-called “expected on base percentage” (xOBP) statistic began to be calculated, measuring the chances a player will get on base from the quality of his contact with the ball.

With a remarkable xOBP of .444, Soto is “one of the greatest on-base machines we’ve seen step into a batter’s box in the last decade,” writes David Adler of the MLB. “You could argue that he is the greatest.”

Since debuting with the Washington Nationals in 2018, Soto has also accumulated 36.3 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), a jaw-dropping number despite being one of the youngest players in the league. WAR is a statistic that estimates how many more wins a player is worth than a replacement or the league’s average player.

Soto’s plate discipline is legendary. In 2021, he led the league with a .465 on-base percentage—the highest since home-run slugger and steroid-user Barry Bonds during his peak.

His eye in the batter’s box is so sharp that pitchers often resort to walking him rather than risking a hit. At the same time, his offensive consistency is top notch, with a career .421 OBP that ranks among the best in MLB history for players under 30.

The Mastermind Who Made the Deal?

The mastermind of the historic payday is the original super agent Scott Boras, 72, architect of many of baseball’s richest contracts.

Known for his relentless negotiation tactics and unparalleled ability to drive up player value, Boras runs his empire from headquarters in Newport Beach, California.

Boras represents players with more than $20 billion in active contracts and can make up to five percent in commissions on the total value of a player’s contract. In 2022, for instance, his commissions were estimated as high as $191 million.

Sports agent Scott Boras talks to Juan Soto during batting practice ahead of Game One of the 2024 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 25, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Boras also brokered:

• Bryce Harper’s $330 million, 13-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019.

• Corey Seager’s $325 million, 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers in 2021.

• Gerrit Cole’s $324 million, 9-year deal with the New York Yankees in 2019.

• And, most recently, Carlos Correa’s $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants in 2023, though the agreement fell through due to medical issues.

Comparing to the Richest Deals in Sports History

Soto’s $765 million deal isn’t just historic for baseball—it stands as the most lucrative in sports history.

Here’s how it stacks up:

• Lionel Messi: The Argentinian soccer legend reportedly earned $674 million over four years during his time at FC Barcelona in Spain.

• Patrick Mahomes: The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback signed a 10-year, $503 million deal in 2020.

• Mike Trout: Soto now leaves Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million Los Angeles Angels contract in the dust, making the 2020 deal look like a bargain by today’s standards.

Only one deal has ever been bigger than Soto’s. Kylian Mbappé, the French soccer star, reportedly turned down a $1.1 billion three-year offer from Al-Hilal SFC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“To put Soto’s bonanza in perspective,” The Athletic explained, “consider that the Fenway Sports Group purchased the Boston Red Sox for $700 million in 2002.”

Soto’s Journey

Soto was born in the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean pipeline for a whopping 10 percent of current MLB players.

Baseball runs deep in Soto’s family—his father, Juan Sr., was a catcher in a local amateur league and took baby Juan to his first ballgame when he was only six months old.

Known as “Little Robbie” by his friends, Soto would practice hitting bottle caps with a bottle and worshipped great Dominican players like Robinson Canó and Manny Ramirez.

Soto debuted with the Washington Nationals in 2018.MLB via Getty Images

Signed by the Washington Nationals at just 16 for a modest $1.5 million, Soto quickly climbed the ranks. By 19, he was already making waves in the MLB, debuting in 2018 and finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting.

A year later, he helped lead the Nationals to their first-ever World Series title, hitting three home runs and collecting seven RBI, matching Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle as the only player with seven RBI in a World Series at age 21 or younger.

What This Means for the Mets

The Mets have been losers for decades, but their billionaire owner Steven Cohen is determined to turn things around. Cohen has opened his check book and the Mets entered the 2024 season with the highest payroll in all of baseball, earning a Wild Card spot in the playoffs and making it all the way to the National League Championship Series before losing to the Dodgers.

With the Soto deal, Cohen is splurging again and the payoff could be enormous. Ticket sales are already surging, and fans are flooding social media with excitement about the next 15 years with Childish Bambino leading the charge.