Mets' Juan Soto, Yankees' Max Fried Voted Worst Free-Agent Contracts by MLB Insiders

The two richest contracts signed this offseason were voted the worst free-agent moves in MLB by a panel of insiders.

In a survey conducted by The Athletic's Jayson Stark, the panel of 32 MLB executives voted the deals for Juan Soto and Max Fried as the worst.

Soto topped the list with 10 votes, followed by Fried with nine. Others who received votes were Luis Severino with the A's (seven votes), Max Scherzer with the Toronto Blue Jays (six) and Matthew Boyd with the Chicago Cubs (six).

The main criticism one executive made about Soto's record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets is based around the fact he's largely a one-dimensional player right now because he's not a good defensive player and offers no value as a baserunner:

"I just think that 700 big ones for a guy who’s going to be a DH (soon)—that blows me away. When Shohei got his 700 (million), that made perfect sense to me, even independent of the value he creates in Japan. He’s a $35-million-a-year hitter and a $35-million-a-year pitcher. So it’s easy. There’s your $70 million. But Soto is going to be, in no time at all, a very, very expensive DH. And that just shocks me. I’m not downplaying any of his significant offensive gifts. But for me, there’s no way I’m going to do that deal for a guy who only helps me win games in one way."

There was one executive who stood up for the Soto contract, noting anyone who rated it as the worst was doing so out of "freaking jealousy."

It's true that Soto is a one-trick player right now, but it's a great trick and he's only 26 years old. The four-time All-Star owns a .285/.421/.532 career slash line, with his on-base percentage the best in MLB since he debuted in 2018.

Fried's eight-year, $218 million contract with the New York Yankees was more divisive in the survey. The concern from one of the respondents was the length of the deal, which they described as "terrifying."

While it's impossible to predict health with any pitcher, Fried has been fairly reliable throughout his career. He did miss three months during the 2023 season due to a strained forearm, but he still ranks 20th among all pitchers with 142 starts since 2019.

The Yankees have been trying to find a reliable No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole for years. Fried's resume suggests he could be the best pitcher they've had in that role since Cole signed with New York prior to the 2020 season.

Sure, the back end of these deals might not look great. But that's often the case for any free-agent contract. If you want to land star players, you have to overpay for their decline years to get the remainder of their peak with the hope they can help their team win a World Series title.