How Juan Soto Became The Highest Paid Athlete Ever — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00ju sto just signed the biggest contract
2. 0:02in sports history and it makes zero
3. 0:05sense this is not a good baseball deal
4. 0:07no it's just not s's contract is bigger
5. 0:10than LeBron James and Michael Jordan's
6. 0:13career earnings combined it's bigger
7. 0:15than Messi's contract bigger than
8. 0:17Ronaldo's contract it's two times more
9. 0:19than the biggest NBA contract ever in
10. 0:22over 300 million more than Patrick
11. 0:26mahomes's contract oh my God Is that
12. 0:28real 15 years that seems like a joke
13. 0:32Juan soda will essentially make Caitlyn
14. 0:34Clark's entire 4-year contract in one
15. 0:38game he will get paid more than every
16. 0:41single Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh
17. 0:43Pirates player has made in the past 10
18. 0:45years combined on a guy who in 5 years
19. 0:49is going to be a DH he's a terrible
20. 0:51right he's not a good right but ju sto
21. 0:53isn't getting the biggest contract in
22. 0:55sports history because he's good at
23. 0:58baseball he's getting it because of
24. 1:00these four billionaires all four at one
25. 1:04point had SoDo three of them lost SoDo
26. 1:07and two of them aren't even alive
27. 1:10anymore but the power dynamics that
28. 1:12played out between these four created a
29. 1:14one in a million scenario that somehow
30. 1:18led to the biggest contract ever a
31. 1:21contract that began taking shape before
32. 1:23stto was even old enough to drink during
33. 1:27his rookie year announcer Joe Simpson
34. 1:29simply could could not comprehend how
35. 1:31Juan sto could only be 19 years old if
36. 1:34he's
37. 1:3519 he has certainly got his manang
38. 1:38growth he is big and strong hinting that
39. 1:42he may have lied about his age decades
40. 1:45ago this was common practice in Latin
41. 1:47America if you throw 90 mph at 20 years
42. 1:50old teams might pass on you but if you
43. 1:52throw 90 mph and they think you're 16
44. 1:55years old you just got a massive
45. 1:58contract in 200 one over 300 players got
46. 2:02caught doing this at once famous players
47. 2:04like Baro colog Nelson Cruz Vladimir
48. 2:06Guerrero and more were older than
49. 2:09everyone thought they were and one day
50. 2:11out of nowhere them and 300 other
51. 2:15players ages changed overnight this
52. 2:18without a doubt is much more rare today
53. 2:21it's harder to pull off but it does
54. 2:23occasionally happen after these comments
55. 2:25the Nationals GM confronted Joe Simpson
56. 2:28to his face telling him how out of line
57. 2:31this comment was in the next game as
58. 2:32Soto hit a opposite field bomb Simpson
59. 2:36apologized as he cross the plat saying
60. 2:39Soto is 19 and he's a heck of a ball
61. 2:42player however some already thought Soto
62. 2:46was older than he was saying now that
63. 2:47Simpson said it even more people thought
64. 2:50that SoDo was older than what he was
65. 2:52saying and really just for two reasons
66. 2:55he was from the Dominican Republic and
67. 2:58he was way too good at baseball 6 months
68. 3:01ago the Nets sent him to the lowest
69. 3:03level of minor league baseball after
70. 3:05just five games at spring training Soo
71. 3:08went off in those five games but at 19
72. 3:11everyone knew him making the major
73. 3:12leagues anytime soon was unrealistic
74. 3:16Soto was confident he would in fact Soto
75. 3:18might be the most confident 19-year-old
76. 3:20MLB has ever seen in the miners when he
77. 3:23had to share a locker with a teammate he
78. 3:25told him quote don't worry I won't be
79. 3:28here long a minor league coach once told
80. 3:30him he should buy a real mattress to
81. 3:32replace the air mattress he was sleeping
82. 3:34on stto told him don't worry I won't be
83. 3:37here long stto was promoted 8 Days Later
84. 3:40the Nets thought he was too young to
85. 3:42play in spring training games a month
86. 3:45and a half later he was playing an
87. 3:47actual MLB games after getting promoted
88. 3:50three times in just 36 games Soto
89. 3:53entered the league at 19 years old and
90. 3:55instantly became the alpha male of MLB
91. 3:58debuting his Soo shuffle for the world
92. 4:01stto made a habit of taking a pitch then
93. 4:03immediately lunging towards the pitcher
94. 4:05staring him down smiling at them and
95. 4:07even grabbing his crotch saying this is
96. 4:10a form of mental Warfare he randomly did
97. 4:13it once in the miners notice the pitcher
98. 4:16got mad and took it personal enjoyed the
99. 4:18fact that the pitcher took it personal
100. 4:20and hasn't stopped doing it since Soo
101. 4:23likes when pitchers are mad at him if
102. 4:25they throw at him for this he doesn't
103. 4:27care he says the shuffle makes pitchers
104. 4:29scar sced and that's why he won't stop
105. 4:31doing it grabbing his crotch in the face
106. 4:34of Legends and not caring about the
107. 4:37consequences he was so young stto was
108. 4:39still only ranked the third best
109. 4:41Prospect in the Nats organization by the
110. 4:44end of the season he was ranked the 36th
111. 4:47best player in the entire sport while
112. 4:50being younger than 80% of prospects on
113. 4:53the top 100 prospects list on a team
114. 4:56full of stars stto was arguably the most
115. 4:59productive hitter on the team he had the
116. 5:01highest OPS for a teenager in history
117. 5:04but still had doubters his team
118. 5:06underachieved and didn't make the
119. 5:07playoffs as rookie year nationally stto
120. 5:10was overshadowed by Ronald dunia who won
121. 5:12Rookie of the Year with very similar
122. 5:14numbers and in 2019 the Mets broadcast
123. 5:17emphasized that stto would never be
124. 5:20known for his power too big a swing he
125. 5:22is not a home run hitter even though he
126. 5:23had a nice power year last year then one
127. 5:26pitch later coming and stto cranks it to
128. 5:29de right field forget that oh boy I have
129. 5:33not seen one I believe go up there on
130. 5:35the Plaza up above by the end of his
131. 5:37second season sto had already
132. 5:39accumulated more walks than any player
133. 5:41in baseball history under 21 the Nats
134. 5:44came back from being 12 games under 500
135. 5:47and snuck into the postseason a
136. 5:49postseason where Juan stto would get in
137. 5:51multiple confrontations and also become
138. 5:54a legend in a one game Wild Card series
139. 5:57it was win or go home for the net Juan
140. 6:00sto came to the plate down by two with
141. 6:03The Bases Loaded in the eth this is
142. 6:05likely the gats final chance Juan SoDo
143. 6:09wasn't even old enough to drink yet but
144. 6:11after watching this pitch he shuffles
145. 6:14his feet squares up hater and grabs his
146. 6:17cup saying later that based on this
147. 6:20pitch alone he knew for a fact the next
148. 6:23pitch would be a high fast ball he did
149. 6:25the shuffle and the very next pitch was
150. 6:28a high fast ball
151. 6:30live five Bas hit to right battle score
152. 6:33one battle score two as the ball gets
153. 6:36away from CH and right that's going to
154. 6:38score three runs Soo just owned one of
155. 6:40the best pitchers in baseball to send
156. 6:43the Nats to the nlds but he wasn't done
157. 6:45yet zto was on a mission to own and
158. 6:47humiliate every Elite pitcher he faced
159. 6:50this postseason and he set his sights on
160. 6:53his next victim Clayton Kershaw a week
161. 6:56later in game five of the nlds the
162. 6:58Nationals are in a another win or go
163. 7:00home game down by two in the six it
164. 7:03looks like the season may be ending
165. 7:05according to stto this is when he
166. 7:07noticed Kershaw warming up while in left
167. 7:10field he makes eye contact with Kershaw
168. 7:13and noticed Kershaw stopped his motion
169. 7:16halfway through his delivery according
170. 7:18to SoDo this is when he knew Kershaw was
171. 7:22scared of him and he was going to take
172. 7:24him deep to tie the game a few minutes
173. 7:27later Anthony randone hits a Homer to
174. 7:30put the NS within one then Juan stto
175. 7:33comes to the plate to face Kershaw and
176. 7:35on the very first pitch he sees the
177. 7:38pitch he swings and belts what a deep
178. 7:40right center field way back going going
179. 7:43gone good this would send the game into
180. 7:46extras where the gats shock the Dodgers
181. 7:48an upset that sends them to the NLCS
182. 7:52where things got a little contentious
183. 7:54stto not only had two of the clutchest
184. 7:57hits so far this postseason they were
185. 7:59off two of the best pitchers in the
186. 8:01league he's batting fourth on a
187. 8:03potential World Series team and is only
188. 8:0620 years old he is feeling himself and
189. 8:09to start the series in St Louis he takes
190. 8:12two pitches and shuffles towards miles
191. 8:14micheles eventually striking out
192. 8:16swinging the next St bat he shuffles
193. 8:19again but once again is retired however
194. 8:22he comes up to face michelis for a third
195. 8:25time this time the bases are loaded Soto
196. 8:29says he does the shuffle when he senses
197. 8:32the pitcher is scared of him and is in
198. 8:35trouble and after the very first pitch
199. 8:37he sees he pulls off one of the most
200. 8:39aggressive shuffles we've ever seen
201. 8:41lunges at him grabs his junk stares at
202. 8:45him and literally licks his lips
203. 8:48michelas misses with the Curve again
204. 8:50soda does an equally aggressive Shuffle
205. 8:53and won't stop staring into michaelis's
206. 8:56Soul doto has never been more confident
207. 8:58he's about to take a pict piter D
208. 8:59michaus is annoyed with these Antics
209. 9:01down by one with the bases loaded this
210. 9:04is the biggest at bat of the game he
211. 9:06needs to get this out he throws a
212. 9:09hanging curve but sto misses it and
213. 9:11rolls over and as michelas is walking
214. 9:14off the field he turns to SoDo and grabs
215. 9:17his junk while staring him down as the
216. 9:20Cardinal's bench yells at SoDo to get
217. 9:22off the field at least publicly both
218. 9:24michelas and stto chocked this up to
219. 9:27gamesmanship however stto got Bo
220. 9:29throughout the series in game three
221. 9:31after multiple shuffles Jack flare
222. 9:33struck him out and stared him down while
223. 9:36telling him to go back to the Dugout the
224. 9:38Nets swept this series but Soto showed
225. 9:41he was human only going 3 for 16 his
226. 9:45Antics were rubbing his opponents the
227. 9:47wrong way based on a quote in the
228. 9:49Washington Post even his own manager
229. 9:52seemed to have some qualms about a
230. 9:54rookie doing stuff like this and in game
231. 9:56two stto had stopped the shuffle all
232. 9:59together when facing veteran Adam way
233. 10:02wri going into a World Series against
234. 10:05possibly the strongest three-man
235. 10:07rotation ever assembled it looked like a
236. 10:10humbled Juan SoDo would tone down his
237. 10:13Antics in reality the opposite was true
238. 10:17and the Astros were not happy about it
239. 10:19his first test was Garrett Cole hands
240. 10:22down the best pitcher in baseball this
241. 10:23legendary graphic shows that since May
242. 10:2527th he was 19 and Z he averaged 1.5
243. 10:31strikeouts per inning he's the only
244. 10:33starter in MLB history to do that and in
245. 10:35his first three Playoff starts he only
246. 10:37gave up one run but when he faced
247. 10:4020-year-old Juan stto in the fourth you
248. 10:42saw to hit clean up in a World Series
249. 10:45and he just cleaned
250. 10:48up wow two innings later he tagged Cole
251. 10:52again for A2 RBI double Cole had only
252. 10:55given up two runs in his last five
253. 10:56starts in two at bats one Soo drove in
254. 10:59more runs against Garrett Cole alone
255. 11:02than all five previous teams who faced
256. 11:05him combined Soto's next test Zack grank
257. 11:09grank is a Sai Young winner and six-time
258. 11:12All-Star a future Hall of Famer and a
259. 11:1415-year veteran according to war in 2019
260. 11:18he was the ninth best pitcher in
261. 11:20baseball Juan sto is 20 years old and
262. 11:23doesn't give a the first pitch is a ball
263. 11:26and stto brings out the stto shuffle
264. 11:28followed by another ball Soto then
265. 11:30squares up grank and stares him down
266. 11:33with another Shuffle grank isn't going
267. 11:35to allow this he shakes off pitches
268. 11:37steps off and stalls while stto looks at
269. 11:40him and laughs SoDo then shuffles on a
270. 11:44called strike grank had had enough and
271. 11:46the next pitch he purposely comes within
272. 11:49inches of Juan sto's head grank
273. 11:52eventually loses the battle and walk
274. 11:54SoDo getting a fast ball at your head
275. 11:56would make most players hesitant to
276. 11:58continue anti Antics like this woto
277. 12:01instead took his Antics to another level
278. 12:03and it resulted in his legendary
279. 12:05Showdown with Justin Verlander it's game
280. 12:09six and once again the Nationals have to
281. 12:11win to stay alive in the first inning
282. 12:14the Astros take a 2-1 lead on a Alex
283. 12:16bregman Homer bregman carries the bat
284. 12:19all the way to first base in celebration
285. 12:22and act the Nationals took as a sign of
286. 12:25blatant disrespect and to make matters
287. 12:27worse they're facing Justin Verlander
288. 12:30who had just won the Sai Young crowned
289. 12:32the number one pitcher in the American
290. 12:35League once again Juan Soo doesn't seem
291. 12:38to care he fouls a pitch off stares him
292. 12:40down and smiles the next pitch he pulls
293. 12:43off an aggressive Shuffle as the crowd
294. 12:45booze you can see SoDo literally licking
295. 12:49his lips he goes 0 for two against
296. 12:51Verlander but his body language doesn't
297. 12:53show it in his third at bat he fouls a
298. 12:55high fast ball back and according to him
299. 12:58told the catch quote he throws that
300. 13:01pitch a few inches lower I'm hitting a
301. 13:03home run the next pitch is high he
302. 13:06shuffles and notices Verlander is upset
303. 13:10with the call stto starts emphatically
304. 13:12nodding tells the catcher it was a ball
305. 13:16later saying Verlander arguing this call
306. 13:18proved that he was scared of SoDo and
307. 13:22made him know for a fact he was going to
308. 13:24throw another high fast ball that's what
309. 13:27verer did this time it was a few in
310. 13:29lower and just like woto said he would
311. 13:32do that is hit in the air to right and
312. 13:35way out of
313. 13:37here wow this gave the Nets the lead and
314. 13:41they never looked back they won this
315. 13:42game six kept the momentum in game seven
316. 13:45and won their first World Series in
317. 13:47franchise history this may seem like an
318. 13:50overstatement but at this point Soo was
319. 13:53already a baseball Legend he just
320. 13:56embarrassed four of the most dominant
321. 13:58pitchers of of his era in a single
322. 14:01postseason under the highest Stakes
323. 14:03imaginable at just 20 years old and the
324. 14:06negotiations that eventually led to the
325. 14:08biggest contract in sports history had
326. 14:11already begun stto wasn't a free agent
327. 14:14for another five seasons but a strange
328. 14:17scenario put him in a position we may
329. 14:19never see again 99% of the time if a guy
330. 14:22is talented as stto comes up to an
331. 14:24organization there's nothing on Earth
332. 14:27that can make that organization get rid
333. 14:29of him the Nets were different they
334. 14:32quickly dissolved after the world series
335. 14:34stars left in free agency other stars
336. 14:36got injured and stopped playing and the
337. 14:38rest got traded that left juano on a
338. 14:41terrible team he would go on to be
339. 14:44passed around for Five Seasons some of
340. 14:46these teams were successful some of them
341. 14:48were failures causing tension with
342. 14:51opponents tension with his own
343. 14:52organization even tension with teammates
344. 14:55because naturally the alpha tendencies
345. 14:57that makes stto feared also rub some
346. 15:00people the wrong way but before we get
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377. 16:16picks run your
378. 16:19game as a 17-year-old Juan stto struck
379. 16:22out in a game in single a the pitcher
380. 16:26JoJo Romero would go on to post this
381. 16:28strikeout on Instagram as part of a
382. 16:30personal highlight reel stto took this
383. 16:34personally and promised himself he would
384. 16:37make Romero pay for this Instagram post
385. 16:40it took three entire years for them to
386. 16:43face each other again and on the very
387. 16:45first pitch stto saw he ambushed Romero
388. 16:48for an opposite field bomb and stared
389. 16:51him down as he jogged home Romero had no
390. 16:55idea that stto had been praying on him
391. 16:57seeking Revenge for three entire Seasons
392. 17:01winning wasn't happening in Washington
393. 17:02so success for stto was now strictly
394. 17:05based on a on V1 matchup between him and
395. 17:09the Pitcher who he lives to intimidate
396. 17:11and embarrass when he faced Will Smith
397. 17:13later that season he pissed him off by
398. 17:16standing here timing up Smith's pitches
399. 17:19for the upcoming at bat Will Smith
400. 17:21yelled at stto for doing this telling
401. 17:24him to get back in the on Deck Circle
402. 17:26this is based on an old Unwritten rule
403. 17:28that states should not get too close to
404. 17:30the Box while a pitcher is warming up in
405. 17:32order to time his pitches back in the
406. 17:35day a pitcher named Ryan Duran once
407. 17:37threw at Jimmy peaw for doing this but
408. 17:39instead of waiting until he got to the
409. 17:41plate he threw at peaw in the on Deck
410. 17:44circle before peol even got a chance to
411. 17:47hit there's a chance Sono didn't even
412. 17:50know this Unwritten rule existed or
413. 17:53knowing Will Smith was a hothead he did
414. 17:56this purposely knowing it would piss
415. 17:58piss Will Smith off all of a sudden this
416. 18:01matchup was personal since the rest of
417. 18:03the lineup sucks you typically want to
418. 18:05pitch around stto but now that Will
419. 18:07Smith is mad he challenges him with a
420. 18:09fast ball right down the middle stto
421. 18:12crushes a 430t bomb then proceeds to
422. 18:16stare Will Smith in the eye flip his Bat
423. 18:20as Will Smith yells at him and the Nat's
424. 18:22dug out soda would end up getting
425. 18:24drilled for this the next time they face
426. 18:26each other when they face each other
427. 18:27again Will Smith walked him in four
428. 18:29pitches with the bases loaded with
429. 18:31multiple pitches near stto stto flipped
430. 18:34his Bat and stared him down again and
431. 18:36got cursed out by Will Smith stto makes
432. 18:39a living antagonizing egotistical men so
433. 18:43they challenge him then makes them pay
434. 18:45for it and that may be why the
435. 18:47negotiations with the Nationals weren't
436. 18:50going well after the World Series stto
437. 18:52put up the best numbers in the league in
438. 18:542020 the next year he had the highest
439. 18:56war in the NL and finished second in MVP
440. 19:00voting the Nets desperate to keep stto
441. 19:02around longterm offered him a 133-year
442. 19:07$350 million contract extension that
443. 19:10would be the third biggest contract in
444. 19:13baseball history stto basically laughed
445. 19:16at it stating publicly he's not planning
446. 19:19to sign any deal until he's a free agent
447. 19:22in Four Seasons but emphasized that he
448. 19:25wanted to stay with the team that he
449. 19:27came up with and if stto came up with
450. 19:29any other franchise in baseball that's
451. 19:32what would have happened nobody gets rid
452. 19:34of a player as good as stto but the
453. 19:37Nationals were owned by Ted larner a
454. 19:40billionaire real estate developer who
455. 19:42purchased and brought the team to DC in
456. 19:442005 the sixth largest market in America
457. 19:46in theory this should have been an
458. 19:47extremely rich and profitable franchise
459. 19:49but based on a TV rights dispute with
460. 19:51their neighbors the Orioles the
461. 19:52Nationals franchise value has been
462. 19:54massively deflated Ted larner was 97
463. 19:58years old his family was operating the
464. 20:00club and going into the 2022 season they
465. 20:03announced they were going to sell the
466. 20:06Nationals however the only valuable
467. 20:09asset they had was Juan stto which is
468. 20:13why shortly after they announced the
469. 20:14team was for sale they offered stto a
470. 20:1815-year
471. 20:20$440 million contract at the time the
472. 20:24biggest contract in baseball history
473. 20:27stto not only said no to this he was
474. 20:31pissed about it many thought he was
475. 20:33crazy after saying he wanted to be a
476. 20:35national he just turned down the biggest
477. 20:37contract in history from the Nationals
478. 20:40his teammates reportedly questioned him
479. 20:42even his own family questioned how he
480. 20:45could turn this offer down Soto
481. 20:47reportedly cried shortly after getting
482. 20:49this offer but not because of the offer
483. 20:52but because the Nationals made it public
484. 20:55then that's likely not only knew stto
485. 20:57wouldn't accept this deal they may have
486. 20:59not even wanted him to accept this deal
487. 21:02the franchise was for sale the man
488. 21:05offering this deal wasn't even going to
489. 21:07be the one who had to pay it but selling
490. 21:09a franchise to someone who knows they'll
491. 21:12have to pay one single player $440
492. 21:15million over the next 15 years is hard
493. 21:19it's much easier to sell a team with a
494. 21:22bunch of prospects who are cheap and
495. 21:24have a ton of potential convincing the
496. 21:27buyer they're buying team who will only
497. 21:29get better and more valuable in the
498. 21:32future and luckily for the Nets they
499. 21:34just so happen to have likely the best
500. 21:37trade piece in baseball history star
501. 21:40players usually only get traded when
502. 21:42their contract is about to expire
503. 21:44whoever trades for him only gets him for
504. 21:46a season sometimes even less sto's
505. 21:49contract wasn't expiring meaning whoever
506. 21:52traded for him would get him for nearly
507. 21:55three entire Seasons no team in history
508. 21:59has ever even thought of trading a
509. 22:02player as good as stto who had three
510. 22:04more years on his contract but the Nets
511. 22:07were for sale and this was way too
512. 22:10tempting for them to ignore by making
513. 22:13the $440 million offer public the Nets
514. 22:17were basically telling their fans we
515. 22:19tried to sign him don't get mad at us
516. 22:22when we trade him and a week later
517. 22:25that's exactly what they did for Juan
518. 22:27sto and Josh B then that's got five
519. 22:29prospects four out of the five were in
520. 22:31the top 100 three of the five were first
521. 22:33round draft picks including the eighth
522. 22:35best Prospect in baseball the other two
523. 22:38included a guy who now ranks fourth in
524. 22:40the Nats organization and James Wood who
525. 22:43at the time was only the 88th ranked
526. 22:45Prospect but now is the top prospect in
527. 22:48baseball as of July 2024 and what likely
528. 22:51is the biggest trade package ever stto
529. 22:54went to the Padre's however unpronounced
530. 22:57to the public the Padre's owner Peter
531. 23:00seidler was battling a deadly illness
532. 23:03which may have sent him on a spending
533. 23:05tear he spent over a billion dollar
534. 23:08signing players like Fernando tatis Jr
535. 23:10Manny Machado UD Daris Xander Bogarts
536. 23:12Mike cger Blake Snell and more even
537. 23:14after sending all these prospects to
538. 23:16Washington for SoDo he sent even more
539. 23:20prospects to get top closer Josh hater
540. 23:23that same week many looked at this
541. 23:25spending as unsustainable and insane but
542. 23:28to Sidler money and Prospects did not
543. 23:31matter although it's never been 100%
544. 23:34confirmed it seems like seidler knew he
545. 23:37could be dying and a World Series was on
546. 23:40his bucket list spending whatever it
547. 23:43took to build a team that could compete
548. 23:46with anyone however quickly after stto
549. 23:49arrived things took a turn first
550. 23:52Fernando tatis Jr was suspended for Peds
551. 23:54and would miss the rest of the season
552. 23:56Josh hater was so bad he was brief ly
553. 23:58taken out of the closer rooll altogether
554. 24:00and stto who was struggling to his
555. 24:02standards on the Nationals came to San
556. 24:05Diego and got worse basically turning
557. 24:08into a League average hitter for most of
558. 24:10the season the team won less than 90
559. 24:12games and didn't even clinch a playoff
560. 24:14spot until the very last week of the
561. 24:17Season by this time nobody had high
562. 24:20hopes for the Padre's but after
563. 24:22upsetting the Mets they faced the
564. 24:24Dodgers and shocked them they were the
565. 24:27best team at baseball they were the
566. 24:28bitter Rivals they had beaten the
567. 24:30Padre's 14 times in 19 games this season
568. 24:33but in what could be the most pivotal
569. 24:35Series in Padre's history they beat the
570. 24:38Dodgers in four games the Padre's lost
571. 24:41to the Phillies the next series and
572. 24:43after giving up all these prospects to
573. 24:45get SoDo he went missing for most of the
574. 24:48postseason but this win over the Dodgers
575. 24:51earned him some Grace only a few games
576. 24:53away from making the world series The
577. 24:55Narrative around the team and the trade
578. 24:58was still positive but in
579. 25:012023 that all changed and what can only
580. 25:03be described as a complete disaster the
581. 25:06Padre's entered the year favored to win
582. 25:08the division over the Dodgers and didn't
583. 25:11even make the playoffs despite having
584. 25:13the fourth best run differential in the
585. 25:15NL they went 0 and 11 in Extra Inning
586. 25:18games and 6 and 22 in one run games
587. 25:21according to stto quote the team just
588. 25:24gives up report after report gave the
589. 25:27impression that the club CL house was in
590. 25:29shambles one former staffer came out
591. 25:31saying the Padre's were extremely toxic
592. 25:34another anonymous source says the
593. 25:36manager and GM's relationship is
594. 25:38unfixable and according to one report
595. 25:41players thought the team hired a spy to
596. 25:44gather information from players and
597. 25:46relay it to the front office we've seen
598. 25:49arguments caught on camera in San Diego
599. 25:51in the past most famously Manny Machado
600. 25:53scolding Fernando tatis Jr in 2021 in
601. 25:572022 Machado pressed jxon proar over his
602. 26:01Outfield play Machado like stto is known
603. 26:04for purposely getting under people's
604. 26:06skin and enjoying it so it's no surprise
605. 26:09that these two Alphas didn't always get
606. 26:11along in the Padre's locker room and MLB
607. 26:14Insider in 2024 said that either stto
608. 26:16didn't like Machado or vice versa
609. 26:19because quote it was obvious that
610. 26:21something was going on there and that
611. 26:23the two buted heads even stto himself
612. 26:26reportedly acknowledged that him and
613. 26:28machado's relationship had been
614. 26:30difficult in San Diego when talking to
615. 26:32teams in free agency but despite the
616. 26:35distractions stto returned to his
617. 26:37dominant form this season was by far the
618. 26:39team's most productive hitter and
619. 26:41finished sixth in MVP voting reports
620. 26:44throughout the season rumored that stto
621. 26:46and the Padre's had been working on a
622. 26:49massive contract extension but by the
623. 26:51end of this disappointing season that
624. 26:54seemed to be out the window tragically
625. 26:57the Padres owner Peter seidler passed
626. 27:00away shortly after the 2023 season ended
627. 27:04and reports indicated that the Padres
628. 27:07would be cutting payroll more Reports
629. 27:09say that stto had trouble trusting
630. 27:11people in San Diego that it was harder
631. 27:13for his family to visit him there and
632. 27:15that he saw San Diego as a quote pit
633. 27:18stop because there was no money for him
634. 27:21there and the death of Peter seidler
635. 27:23seemed to confirm that Soto's agent says
636. 27:26that if seidler was still alive an
637. 27:28extension would have been made and SoDo
638. 27:31would still be a padre to this day but
639. 27:34with his passing new Padre's ownership
640. 27:37shifted to a more long-term economical
641. 27:40approach and looking for a way to shed
642. 27:42payroll ju SoDo became the perfect way
643. 27:46to do that passing on his $31 million
644. 27:50salary to the Yankees in another
645. 27:53blockbuster trade no player this
646. 27:55talented in MLB history has been on
647. 27:58three different teams by age 25 but with
648. 28:01only one more year before free agency
649. 28:04stto was set on a completely different
650. 28:06Milestone becoming the richest baseball
651. 28:09player in history traditionally the
652. 28:12Yankees would have been the best place
653. 28:13on Earth to do that in the 9s George
654. 28:16Stein Benner broke spending records
655. 28:18created a dynasty of the highest paid
656. 28:21stars but now his son was in charge his
657. 28:24spending approach is way more
658. 28:26conservative even saying this past year
659. 28:28quote payrolls at the levels we're at
660. 28:31now are simply not sustainable for us
661. 28:35financially this is not how the Yankees
662. 28:39usually talk they're the fourth most
663. 28:41valuable sports team in the world but
664. 28:43unlike his father the new Yankees owner
665. 28:46hail Stein Brer is worried about being
666. 28:50economical 20 years ago Soo likely would
667. 28:53have signed a record-breaking deal with
668. 28:55the Yankees days after after this trade
669. 28:59because no owner on Earth could match
670. 29:00George Stein brener spending but with
671. 29:02hail Stein brener in charge stto went
672. 29:05without an extension telling the media
673. 29:08quote any contract stuff they know where
674. 29:11to call and who to talk to referring to
675. 29:13his agent Scott Boris 3 days after this
676. 29:16trade showy Otani broke the brains of
677. 29:19everyone everywhere by signing a $700
678. 29:22million contract it was nearly double
679. 29:25the second biggest contract in baseball
680. 29:27history to a source close to SoDo when
681. 29:30he saw this signing quote his eyes lit
682. 29:33up saying he thinks Soto's new goal was
683. 29:37to surpass sh's $700 million contract
684. 29:41but without deferrals speculation at
685. 29:44this time predicted that stto might get
686. 29:46close to 500 million meaning with only a
687. 29:49year until free agency if he wanted to
688. 29:51get anywhere close to shohi he'd have to
689. 29:54go off in 2024 and that's
690. 29:58exactly what he did he went 9417 got an
691. 30:01RBI in four straight games won a game
692. 30:03with an outfield assist and one player
693. 30:05of the week in his first week as a
694. 30:07Yankee by may he already had eight home
695. 30:10runs statistically he was the best
696. 30:12hitter in the American League and with
697. 30:13Aaron judge slumping and gar Cole out
698. 30:16the sto trade was the sole reason the
699. 30:18Yankees found themselves in first fans
700. 30:21pleaded with him and the Yankees to sign
701. 30:23a deal to keep him in the Bronx for good
702. 30:26but when potential contracts came up in
703. 30:28may he said quote all doors are open I'm
704. 30:31open to going to any team when asked to
705. 30:34respond to fans chanting for stto to
706. 30:37stay in New York he said quote they have
707. 30:39to talk to Cashman referring to the
708. 30:41Yankees general manager while the all
709. 30:44start break stto said flat out he
710. 30:46wouldn't be worrying about it until the
711. 30:48end of the season Soto knew whatever the
712. 30:51Yankees were willing to offer him during
713. 30:53the season wouldn't come close to what
714. 30:56they would offer him in the off season
715. 30:58when they had to bid against other teams
716. 31:01knowing if he kept playing at an MVP
717. 31:04level this bidding war could become
718. 31:07historic which he did the only Al hitter
719. 31:10who put up better numbers than stto was
720. 31:12his teammate Aaron judge they finished
721. 31:14first and second in OBP wins probability
722. 31:17added Ops and WRC plus stto had his most
723. 31:20productive season ever finished third in
724. 31:23MVP voting was back on a contender and
725. 31:25went off in the postseason tied in the
726. 31:2810th against one of the best relievers
727. 31:31in baseball stto had a chance to send
728. 31:33the team to the World Series he shuffled
729. 31:37stared down the pitcher licked his lips
730. 31:40and nodded emphatically SoDo knew Gattis
731. 31:44had no chance and on the seventh pitch
732. 31:47of the atat Steal stto a high fly ball
733. 31:50to Center backing up Thomas at the track
734. 31:53and one sto a three run home run Soo had
735. 31:59brought the Yankees back to the World
736. 32:00Series for the first time in over a
737. 32:03decade he was back on a contender with
738. 32:05judge hitting behind him it was clear
739. 32:06they'd be contenders for at least
740. 32:08another decade unlike past teams there
741. 32:10was no drama he knew the Yankees were
742. 32:13willing to match almost any offer so
743. 32:15going into the World Series Juan sto
744. 32:17felt like a Yankee for life on top of
745. 32:21that when they fell short against the
746. 32:23Dodgers after one of the biggest
747. 32:25defensive collapses ever there was even
748. 32:29more pressure on the Yankees to resign
749. 32:32stto but hours after this terrible
750. 32:35defeat stto was asked if he planned to
751. 32:38return to the Bronx he said he was going
752. 32:40to quote hear every team's offer before
753. 32:44the season analysts were curious if stto
754. 32:46could get a deal worth 500 million now
755. 32:48the season was over and nine analysts on
756. 32:51ESPN predicted he would make over 600
757. 32:54million his 2024 was so dominant it made
758. 32:57him over $100 million there's only been
759. 33:01a handful of 26-year-old free agents
760. 33:04ever Bryce Harper and Manny Machado were
761. 33:06the most recent and they broke the bank
762. 33:09getting mind-blowing money but Soto's
763. 33:11numbers through age 25 dwarf both of
764. 33:14their numbers in fact there's only 16
765. 33:16players in history who have been more
766. 33:19productive than Juan sto before turning
767. 33:2226 and every single one of them except
768. 33:25three are in the Hall of Fame those
769. 33:28three will also soon be in the Hall of
770. 33:30Fame whoever gets SoDo is not only
771. 33:33getting a Hall of Famer they're getting
772. 33:36a Hall of Famer at age 26 before he's
773. 33:39even entered his prime yet yet still
774. 33:42only two out of 28 analysts asked by
775. 33:46ESPN predicted stto could get $700
776. 33:49million and that was logical Otani just
777. 33:52broke baseball for signing for 700
778. 33:55million even without pitching or playing
779. 33:58defense Otani was more productive than
780. 34:00SoDo was in 2024 when he does pitch he's
781. 34:04arguably the most productive player ever
782. 34:08and he's a global superstar that
783. 34:11reportedly made the Dodgers
784. 34:13$20 million in one year just in off the-
785. 34:18field money like sponsorship ticket
786. 34:20sales merchandise Etc not to mention
787. 34:23most of his contract is deferred and
788. 34:26accounting for inflation the $700
789. 34:28million deal is really only worth around
790. 34:32$460 million Soo is 5 years younger than
791. 34:36Otani however he can't come close to
792. 34:40matching his off the- field value or his
793. 34:43on the field production so without
794. 34:45deferring a ton there's basically zero
795. 34:48chance anyone would offer SoDo 700
796. 34:51million or more until this guy got
797. 34:55involved billionaire hedge fund manager
798. 34:57Steve Cohen is the richest owner in
799. 34:59baseball in fact he's the fifth richest
800. 35:02owner in all of sports he bought the
801. 35:05Mets in 2020 and has been on a mission
802. 35:08to blow as much money as possible giving
803. 35:11fortunes to Francisco Lindor Max Sher
804. 35:13Justin Verlander and more Steve Cohen
805. 35:16has spent so much money in four years
806. 35:19MLB had to create a Steve Coen tax to
807. 35:23prevent owners like Cohen from
808. 35:25outspending everyone teams now have to
809. 35:28pay massive penalties if they go over
810. 35:31certain amounts of payroll Cohen does
811. 35:34not care he paid over 100 million just
812. 35:38in tax penalties to MLB last season the
813. 35:41Mets had been stuck paying massive
814. 35:43contracts to Justin verer and Max
815. 35:45Scherzer all of 2024 if solo had become
816. 35:48a free agent a year earlier Cohen still
817. 35:52having to pay off these contracts likely
818. 35:54would have been out of the stto sweep
819. 35:56Stakes all together without the Mets
820. 35:58bidding SoDo would have been lucky to
821. 36:01make 600 million but the simple fact
822. 36:05that berlander and shurer contracts just
823. 36:07so happened to expire right before woto
824. 36:10became a free agent made the Mets bids
825. 36:13and probably added close to $200 million
826. 36:18to his contract with these contracts off
827. 36:20the books Cohen was ready to spend
828. 36:22almost anything on stto but so was
829. 36:25everybody else on November 14th a report
830. 36:28stated that stto had a meeting with the
831. 36:29Red Sox the next day he went on a
832. 36:31meeting with the Blue Jays then the
833. 36:33Dodgers even the Phillies entered the
834. 36:35sweep stakes and met with SoDo by
835. 36:37December it was said that the Blue Jays
836. 36:39were actually the ones offering SoDo the
837. 36:41most amounts of money all these
838. 36:43interested teams drew the price up
839. 36:45significantly however in reality it all
840. 36:48came down to the Yankees and the mess at
841. 36:52the beginning of the Season analysts
842. 36:54predicted he'd make 500 million by the
843. 36:56end of the season they predicted he'd
844. 36:58get 600 million a month later reports
845. 37:00were now saying whoever signed stto
846. 37:02would have to pay 700 million the
847. 37:06biggest Factor was Cohen's ability to
848. 37:09outspend everyone his $21 billion net
849. 37:12worth is twice as much as any other
850. 37:16owner in the league but even so popular
851. 37:19belief still favored the Yankees they
852. 37:22had a better roster a way bigger brand
853. 37:25Soto just had the best season of his
854. 37:27life life there he was beloved there and
855. 37:29loved his time there so as long as the
856. 37:32Yankees could come close to Cohen's
857. 37:35final offer logic would leave you to
858. 37:37believe Soto would choose the Yankees
859. 37:41however later reports paint a different
860. 37:44picture saying SoDo hadn't even talked
861. 37:47to a single Yankees teammate since the
862. 37:49season ended over a month ago more
863. 37:51Reports say that during negotiations the
864. 37:54Yankees declined Soto's request to to
865. 37:57get stadium suites for his family for
866. 37:59home games saying they didn't give Jeter
867. 38:02or judge Suites so they couldn't justify
868. 38:05giving them to SoDo another report came
869. 38:08out later saying that there was an
870. 38:10incident at Yankee Stadium where
871. 38:11security prevented his family from going
872. 38:14into certain parts of the stadium during
873. 38:16a game in 2024 which apparently upset
874. 38:19stto greatly the matter was resolved
875. 38:22during the season but it seems like
876. 38:25Steve Cohen may have gotten win of these
877. 38:28stories in the final days of negotiation
878. 38:31he set up a final meeting with SoDo in
879. 38:33his California Mansion Cohen invited all
880. 38:36the big important Mets investors and
881. 38:39Executives to Swoon SoDo also inviting
882. 38:42someone traditionally a little less
883. 38:45important the traveling secretary the
884. 38:49person in charge of logistics
885. 38:50Transportation lodging and food for
886. 38:53players Cohen had the traveling
887. 38:55secretary come to the meeting and tell
888. 38:57stto all about the perks the Mets would
889. 38:59give him and his family which included a
890. 39:02full luxury suite for every home game
891. 39:05for 15 years as well as full security
892. 39:09for his family at every home and away
893. 39:12game things the Yankees weren't willing
894. 39:15to do shortly after this meeting the
895. 39:18Mets offered stto a
896. 39:2015-year
897. 39:23$765 million contract 325 m million more
898. 39:28than the Nats offered 3 years ago 265
899. 39:31million more than what was predicted at
900. 39:33the beginning of the Season 165 million
901. 39:36more than what was predicted after the
902. 39:38season and over 60 million more than
903. 39:41what the industry predicted just a week
904. 39:44prior the Yankees countered with a
905. 39:46slightly smaller 16-year
906. 39:50760 million offer and despite only a $5
907. 39:54million difference stto chose Steve
908. 39:58Cohen and the Mets during the 18-minute
909. 40:01introductory press conference Soto
910. 40:04mentioned the word family nine times the
911. 40:08Sports World lost their minds people
912. 40:10blamed hail Stein Brenner's cheapness
913. 40:13refusing to spend $1 million to get his
914. 40:16family a suite cost them the biggest
915. 40:19free agent ever stto has since come out
916. 40:23trying to dispel this narrative saying
917. 40:26the Yankees treated him well and that he
918. 40:28just preferred the Mets as an
919. 40:31organization but forever people will not
920. 40:33only question why Cohen would give Soto
921. 40:37the biggest contract in sports history
922. 40:39they'll also question why Soo accepted
923. 40:42it and left the Yankees for Just5
924. 40:46million more dollars