Soto’s contract is renewed for just $629,400
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla . • After hitting 34 home runs last season, shining in the playoffs and further establishing himself as one of the league’s top players, Juan Soto will make US$629,400 in 2020. The Washington Nationals renewed his contract at that value, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, after the club and Soto did not agree on a salary.
How is that possible? Because Soto has less than three years of major league service time, the Nationals were able to assign his salary for another year. He made $ 578,300 in 2019 after a standout rookie season. The Nationals bumped him up $ 51,100, and Soto’s representation, headed by agent Scott Boras, did not agree with the resulting figure. That’s why the Nationals had to “renew” his contract, rather than the two sides agreeing to terms, and exercise their power to stick with the original offer. USA Today was first to report that Soto’s contract was renewed.
The salary does not match Soto’s productivity. Everyone can agree on that.
He finished last season with a .949 on- base- plus slugging percentage. He turned 21 during the World Series and helped the Nationals to a title with three home runs, seven RBIS, five walks and a .333 batting average against the Houston Astros. He is already a superstar.
But baseball gives all leverage to teams before a player is eligible for arbitration. And while it may seem fair to ridicule the Nationals for lowballing Soto, the current labour structure enables it. Just last spring, two high-profile players were in similar situations. Ronald Acuna Jr. had his contract renewed at $ 560,000 before he signed an eight- year, $ 100- million extension with the Atlanta Braves. Alex Bregman had his contract renewed at $ 640,500 before he signed a sixyear, $ 100- million extension with the Houston Astros.
Acuna won National League rookie of the year in 2018, ahead of Soto, before the Braves renewed him for less money than Soto agreed to with the Nationals. That’s only one example of how this process, of teams deciding a player’s worth, leads to odd discrepancies and disagreements.
Arguments in Soto’s favour centre on Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi. All four players made more than Soto in the season before they were arbitration eligible, which Soto should be next winter as a “Super-2” player.
Bryant and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a $1,050,000 salary. Correa had his contract renewed by the Houston Astros for $1 million. Betts had his contract renewed by the Boston Red Sox for $950,000, while the club agreed to a $717,000 figure for Benintendi. Bryant was coming off an MVP season that ended with the Cubs winning the World Series. He outperformed Soto to that point of their respective careers, but a case could be made that Soto should be worth more than Correa, Betts and Benintendi were.
The other difference is those three players were a service- time class ahead of Soto, and therefore could be valued higher by their clubs due to additional experience. Other relevant comparisons are Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, who made less money than Soto when they had more than a year of service time.
It’s complex and confusing. And yet none of it changes the fact that teams are able to dictate salaries until a player logs a certain amount of service time.
The best case for the Nationals would be to sign Soto long term before he tests the open market. They drafted and developed Bryce Harper before he left for 13 years and $330 million with the Philadelphia Phillies in February 2019. They drafted and developed Anthony Rendon before he left for seven years and $ 245 million with the Los Angeles Angels a few months ago. Soto should have four shots at arbitration before he can test free agency after the 2024 season. But avoiding that possibility with Soto, a generational talent, is something Washington wants to explore.
Yet that will require the club, Soto and Boras all agreeing on an evaluation for the left-fielder. They’ll have another chance to next year.
contract of ace Flaherty renewed
The St. Louis Cardinals announced Sunday they renewed the contract of Jack Flaherty and agreed to terms with 24 others who have up to three years of major league service time.
That means that for the second straight year, the Cardinals were unable to come to terms with righthander Flaherty, who is emerging as one of baseball’s best young pitchers.
Flaherty, 24, appeared in six games for St. Louis in 2017 before becoming a fixture in the starting rotation in 2018.
Last season, he was 11- 8 with a 2.75 ERA in 33 starts. He struck out 231 batters in 196 1/ 3 innings and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. In the post- season, he was 1-2 with a 4.24 ERA.