MLB Insider: Yankees' Juan Soto Eclipsing Ohtani's Contract 'Seems Like a Pipe Dream'

The calls for Juan Soto to become the highest-paid player in MLB began even before his go-ahead homer in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS for the New York Yankees landed in the center field seats at Progressive Field, but it doesn't seem likely to happen.

Per The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli, Soto surpassing Shohei Ohtani's $700 million deal in free agency "seems like a pipe dream" at this point.

Ghiroli did note it's not impossible if Soto is willing to take a lot of deferred money in a deal. That was the approach that Ohtani took in his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ohtani's deal is officially a 10-year, $700 million pact, but $680 million of that is being deferred until after the contract expires. He will be paid $68 million annually from 2034 to '43.

The net-present value of Ohtani's contract as determined by MLB is $46 million per season. It's still the richest deal in MLB history by average annual salary, surpassing the $43.3 million mark set by Max Scherzer when he signed with the New York Mets in December 2021.

Soto will almost certainly become the second-highest-paid player in MLB by total value and average annual salary to Ohtani this offseason. Mike Trout is currently the second-highest-paid player by total value with a 12-year, $426.5 million deal from the Los Angeles Angels.

Before the Washington Nationals traded Soto to the San Diego Padres in July 2022, they tried signing him to an extension worth $440 million over 15 years that he rejected.

The four-time All-Star will turn 26 on Oct. 25 and turned in a fantastic walk year in his first season with the Yankees. He set a career high with 8.1 FanGraphs wins above replacement, 41 homers and 128 runs scored during the regular season.

When you combine Soto's age with the elite level of offensive production he has every single year, it will be hard to imagine him signing for anything less than $500 million. Even that might end up being a starting point in negotiations.