Yankees Rumors: Juan Soto, NY Haven't Had 'Recent Conversations' on New Contract

The New York Yankees and All-Star outfielder Juan Soto reportedly haven't engaged in contract talks as of late ahead of Soto's impending free agency.

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, there have been "no recent conversations" about a new contract and "no momentum" toward the two sides reaching an agreement before Soto hits the open market.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said in May that he was open to negotiating with Soto during the season, but Olney noted that the belief around the league is that Soto's agent, Scott Boras, is highly unlikely to have his client re-sign with the Yankees before hitting free agency and fielding offers from other teams.

An anonymous MLB exec questioned why Steinbrenner even went public with his willingness to have in-season negotiations, saying: "I am not sure why he would say that. Boras is not going to get a superstar this close to free agency and then limit himself to negotiating with one team. All it does is raise expectations of fans."

The Soto contract saga has now stretched across three different organizations, as the Washington Nationals traded him to the San Diego Padres in 2022 when they could not reach an extension.

San Diego then dealt Soto to the Yanks this past offseason for a significant package of players and prospects, including Michael King, Jhony Brito, Kyle Higashioka, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe.

The trade has paid major dividends for the Yankees thus far, as the 25-yea-old Soto is in the thick of the American League MVP race by virtue of slashing .295/.426/.558 with 23 home runs and 66 RBI.

New York has paired him with arguably the leading AL MVP candidate in Aaron Judge, giving the Bronx Bombers perhaps the best 1-2 punch of any lineup in baseball.

With Soto and Judge leading the way, the Yankees are off to a solid 58-40 start, putting them one game behind the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead. They currently hold the top wild-card spot in the AL as well.

The Yankees almost certainly traded for Soto with designs on signing the four-time All-Star to a new contract, and that desire has likely grown as he has continued to play at an elite level.

However, the Yankees also knew it was far from a guarantee that Soto would re-sign, so trading for him came with inherent risk.

The Yanks do have plenty of things working in their favor when it comes to re-signing Soto, as they have the money to make the type of offer that few other teams can, and Soto also seems to enjoy playing in the Bronx.

Just this past offseason, the Yankees ponied up $360 million over nine years to re-sign Judge, and while handing out another similar contract could put them in something of a financial crunch, keeping the Judge-Soto duo intact may be worth it.

For now, the focus is on winning the division, reaching the playoffs and winning a 28th World Series in franchise history, but regardless of how the 2024 season ends up for the Yanks, re-signing Soto will be a massive priority.