NY Mets are focused on winning now, not distant future risks of Juan Soto contract

With any player acquisition comes some level of risk. Whether it’s money or players, committing assets to obtain talents always comes with pros and cons. Of course, higher-profile players come with a much larger risk-reward scale and organizations must constantly combat outweighing the potential good with its evil counterpart. For the New York Mets, the contract currently under the “risk microscope” is Juan Soto’s historic 15-year, $765 million deal. 

It doesn’t take much of a Google search to find cautionary tales surrounding long-term, big-money deals in baseball. Albert Pujols with the Angels, Miguel Cabrera with the Tigers, and Robinson Cano with Seattle are three more recent ones that come to mind. Still, there is enough evidence to support Soto and the Mets avoiding becoming another blemish in the sport’s history books. 

At the forefront of any long-term contract risks are injuries and player durability. Signing a player to substantial money and term only to witness constant battles with remaining healthy can result in catastrophic setbacks for a franchise. 

Of course, a player can start to experience injury issues at any juncture of his career. To this point, Soto’s career has been one of reliability. Since his debut in 2018, he has played 150 or more games in six seasons, and between 100 and 120 games twice. The only real outlier was the 60-game 2020 season, where he still played 47. So even though the injury bug can one day rear its ugly head, worrying about it considering Soto’s track record is unjustified. 

A more understandable worry surrounding Soto is his unreliable fielding. Already below-average in the field, a steady decline in this area is expected as he gets into his 30s and beyond. Although fielding will likely never be a strength, Soto’s skill set and intangibles negate that worry for now.

The Mets need to focus on strengthening the field around him to mask those deficiencies. Yes, New York may one day be overpaying for a very good DH, however, that is a problem for the future.

The Juan Soto contract risks a problem for distant future Mets

Speaking of future worries, everything else that is considered a risk with this contract is very much a “future Mets” problem. At 26, New York has Soto locked in for a bounty of prime years where he will consistently contend for the National League MVP. In that time, the organization should continuously compete for a World Series, and hopefully bring a title to a fanbase starving for one. 

The potential for glory in the present and near future is why the Mets committed to Soto and did what it took to bring him aboard. If you ask anyone in management whether they’d deal with the pain of overpaying a close-to-40 DH on the decline after he played a key part in winning one or more World Series titles, the answer would be yes every single time. 

To say that no risks come with the Mets committing $765 million to Soto over 15 years would be incredibly foolish. Of course, there is risk. Every attempt to better your organization comes with the danger of one day being told “I told you so” by the media and armchair front office folks. 

The greatest minds in any sport know when is the time to take the chance. For the Mets, the time is now. Let us focus on what lies for this season. Save the worries of ten to fifteen years from now for another day way down the road.