I glanced at my phone around noon on Thanksgiving while down in Connecticut with my wife’s family.
My eyes widened.
It was a text from one of my best friends with a link to a tweet that read, “BREAKING NEWS - The Boston Red Sox have signed free agent outfielder Juan Soto.”
“No,” I thought. “Not today…”
Not because I didn’t want it to be true. Of course I did... but I selfishly wanted to enjoy my holiday with the people I love and not have to think about work. Believe it or not, us sports journalists have a life and families outside of sports, too. Well, OK, maybe not a life…
I monitored the situation throughout the afternoon and evening, just in case I needed to spring into action to write a column I never imagined I’d be writing for Boston Sports Journal. Juan Soto, the Boston Red Sox. It still sounds so improbable.
But apparently, it isn’t. Not if the reporting of a select few is to be believed. The aforementioned tweet came from the “@BeyondAverageMick” account, whose bio reads “Host of BAP | Minifan | CapeCod Insider.”
BREAKING NEWS - The Boston Redsox have signed free agent outfielder Juan Soto.
— Mick (@BeyondAvgMick) November 28, 2024
The terms of the deal are still unknown but I’m hearing it’s 12 years with no deferred money.
Expect an official announcement to come within the next few days: pic.twitter.com/X2U9klELHc
I had never heard of nor did I have any personal interactions with this individual, but as I told my friend who texted me, I didn’t discredit the report, but knew it had to “go through the cycle” of sourced reporting. From a news-making perspective, that process includes not running with every single report and taking the time to verify.
Part of that verification process, when you aren’t the one reporting the story yourself, is cross-checking with what others are reporting — including the big dogs in your industry, such as ESPN’s top baseball insider Jeff Passan. And he wasn’t buying it…
I am thankful for reporters who don’t make up stories.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 28, 2024
I am also thankful that Juan Soto has not agreed to any contract, which means you can get off Twitter and go spend the holiday with your family.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Then there was another report from Hector Gomez, whose Twitter account “@hgomez27” says he is an MLB Insider based in Bánica, Dominican Republic. Gomez’s report said, “I'm hearing a 13-year, $625 million offer.” Once again, the top national baseball reporters remained silent on the subject.
From there, Twitter did what Twitter does: nosedive down the rumor rabbit hole into disarray.
#JuanSoto Lot of rumors going around about the Red Sox as the front runners….thoughts?
— CELSIUS Energy Drink (@CelsiusOfficial) November 29, 2024
So what are fans to believe? Well, just because two lesser-known names or accounts are reporting something, it doesn’t make what they’re reporting wrong. But it does lead to more skepticism, and that’s only fair. The top reporters are the top reporters for a reason: they have a proven track record. Fair or not, that’s the way it is.
The same as always: our reports are denied at first, but then time takes care of proving us right, just as happened with Rafael Devers' extension. It's something we unfortunately have to deal with in this job. https://t.co/JoE1gRsMoX
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) November 29, 2024
Social media has been a blessing and a curse for sports and sports journalism. It’s what allows us to react in real time when Shohei Ohtani becomes the first man in history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases or when Georgia and Georgia Tech play a ridiculous eight overtimes on Friday. It’s also what allows unsubstantiated reports to spread like wildfire…
At the end of the day, those reports may wind up being correct. We may very well be hearing official news within the next week that Soto will be a Red Sox. Ultimately, only time will tell. That is why I prefer reacting to what actually happens instead of trying to predict it. You just never know.
Odds on favorites?
Not quite, but the odds of Soto winding up with the Red Sox keep getting better and better.
As of Saturday, BetMGM Sportsbook has listed Boston’s odds of landing Soto at +300. That gives the Sox the third-best odds to sign the 26-year-old outfielder, trailing only the rival Yankees at -110 and the Mets at +150.
For what it’s worth, both the Blue Jays and the Dodgers are also at +300 odds. Toronto has the money and I’m sure that playing with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be enticing for Soto, but Soto’s talent deserves a bigger stage than the Blue Jays.
You know, a stage like… playing in L.A.. Not a single soul should be surprised if Soto wound up choosing to join the team with limitless pockets that has set itself up better than any team in history to be a contender for years to come.
I can’t help but wonder if the over-saturation of stars might work against the Dodgers in their pursuit of Soto. Soto has been “the man” everywhere he’s been — certainly in Washington, San Diego and somewhat in New York. Aaron Judge is a bigger star, yes, but Soto seemed to get fairly equal billing in what might wind up being his lone season in the Big Apple.
But with the Dodgers, Soto is arguably the No. 2 or 3 star behind Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Perhaps Soto doesn’t really care — it’s not like he wouldn’t be considered a superstar of the sport in a lineup with those two plus Freddie Freeman and Co.
Yet there is a certain cache that comes with being “the guy” somewhere, and Soto certainly would be the guy here in Boston. That would also be the case for the Yankees’ crosstown rivals. Francisco Lindor is the guy there right now, and he’s deserving of his star status, but I think Soto would supersede Lindor’s star status in Queens.
It’s all a matter of preference, because they money is going to be about the same everywhere…
Devers pitches in
If the Red Sox don’t wind up signing Soto, you won’t be able to blame Rafael Devers for it.
The current face of the franchise is reportedly doing his part to recruit the next face of the team after spending an hour on the phone with baseball’s top free agent.
I just finished a call, and sources from #Boston informed me that the player spoke for over an hour with Rafael Devers about the team. There is a 12-year offer for around $50M per season, and #JuanSoto is interested in the idea of going to the Red Sox. Currently, the Red Sox are… pic.twitter.com/kZiuPvpIG0
— Mike Rodriguez (@mikedeportes) November 28, 2024
Devers is no doubt a draw for Soto, and I have no doubt that the two countrymen would enjoy playing with each other. Of course, there are other factors at play — the biggest being showing Soto the money.
It appears they’re willing to do so with these reports of a $625 million deal over more than a decade.
While I’m sure that Devers’ recruitment of Soto does include a baseball element, I also imagine that he would love to be able to defer his “public face of the team” duties to Soto — a player who is more than willing and able to take them.
Ultimately, everybody would win in a Soto-Sox marriage. The Sox would get the best hitter on the market, a new organizational face who would inject the kind of buzz into the fanbase that hasn’t been there since the Betts days in 2018. Soto secures his generational wealth and Devers gets to keep a (slightly) lower profile.
Who says no?