Juan Soto Rumors: 'Yankees Are Expected to Be Aggressive' in Contract Talks with Star

Ahead of Juan Soto's regular-season debut with the New York Yankees on Thursday, his long-term future with the organization will be a hot topic of conversation throughout 2024.

Per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, the Yankees are "expected to be aggressive" in their attempts to sign him to a contract next offseason.

General manager Brian Cashman told MLB Network's Jon Morosi in February the "odds are certainly against" Soto signing a new contract before hitting free agency:

"We recognized when we went into this situation that the odds are that it's a one-year situation before free agency. Certainly, that can change, I guess, but the odds are certainly against that. He's this close to free agency. I don't see too many things stopping him from hitting free agency.

"So we're just looking to see if we collectively can crush it together, have an amazing walk year and [have] him put up the numbers he's capable of putting up with the cast of characters that we're going to surround him with. See if we all can have a good time and then have a conversation thereafter."

It's unclear what type of offer it will take sign Soto. He reportedly turned down a 15-year, $440 million extension from the Washington Nationals in July 2022, leading to him being traded to the San Diego Padres.

The total value of the deal would have made Soto the highest-paid player in MLB history at the time, surpassing Mike Trout's $426.5 million contract from the Los Angeles Angels. The average annual salary of $29.3 million was less than Mookie Betts' deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers ($30.4 million).

Gonzalez noted the Yankees might be prepared to give Soto a contract that surpasses the nine-year, $360 million deal Aaron Judge signed with the club in December 2022.

Soto will only be 26 years old when he hits free agency next offseason.

New York's acquisition of Soto raised expectations for the club going into 2024. Some of those expectations have been tempered with the news that reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole could miss up to two months with an elbow injury.

Soto will almost certainly have a profound impact on the lineup. He is a .284/.421/.524 career hitter in 779 games since making his MLB debut in 2018.

The Yankees ranked 22nd in slugging percentage, 25th in runs scored and 27th in on-base percentage last season. They finished fourth in the AL East and missed the playoffs with an 82-80 record.

Even though the Yankees did extend their streak of consecutive winning seasons to 31, the 82 wins were their fewest in a 162-game season since 1992 (76-86).