By Ken Rosenthal, Evan Drellich and Brendan Kuty

LOS ANGELES – The reserve price for Juan Soto is $600 million.

The tender for the free-agent MLB outfielder has exceeded that amount, according to two people briefed on the negotiations who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Agent Scott Boras said Tuesday at Dodger Stadium that Soto has begun eliminating potential landing spots, but did not specify which ones.

The clubs known to be most serious about Soto are the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers. The two people briefed on the negotiations said all remaining rivals had made offers over $600 million.

The industry expects Soto to make his decision by the end of the winter meetings, which begin Sunday in Dallas, and possibly even before the meetings begin. But Boras said he doesn’t expect an “immediate” decision.

“When you go through these things, he just has a lot of information to process,” Boras said Tuesday. “We had meetings with a number of franchises. He started eliminating teams and doing things. Juan is a very methodical thinker, so we’ll see, but I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future.”

Soto, 26, is on the verge of a game-changing contract for two reasons: He’s young for a free agent and teams view him as a once-in-a-lifetime offensive talent.

His contract is expected to last at least 12 years, and his value today will almost certainly surpass the record set by Shohei Ohtani with the Dodgers last offseason when he signed a heavily deferred 10-year contract signed for over $700 million. Ohtani’s deal was valued at $460 million for luxury tax purposes and $438 million by the players’ union.

Soto hit .288 with a career-high 41 home runs in his first season with the Yankees. His .989 OPS ranked third in the majors behind Aaron Judge and Ohtani, and he finished third in American League MVP voting

Juan Soto has walked at least 129 times in four straight seasons. Barry Bonds is the only other MLB player to ever achieve this. pic.twitter.com/RpbwuFZnJi

– Codify (@CodifyBaseball) November 11, 2024

The Mets are widely considered the favorite to land Soto, and many in the industry believe the team’s owner, Steve Cohen, will outdo any contender. But the Yankees are eager to keep Soto as a complement to Judge, and the Red Sox have emerged as a surprising force in negotiations. The Blue Jays and Dodgers are considered longer-term players, although the Jays were willing to match the Dodgers’ offer for Ohtani last offseason and appear to have focused just as heavily on Soto.

However, Boras was at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday to introduce another client, left-hander Blake Snell, who signed a five-year, $182 million contract. Snell settled for a temporary contract last offseason, but it developed more slowly than it did this year.

“Clubs weren’t interested. They just didn’t call,” Boras said. “The free agent market started maybe mid-February last year, it was so different. People like to register that it has something to do with me – I’m just an official of the system. We have already signed six or seven players this year. These are the processes of demand and when teams and owners decide to move in the market.”

Boras said he wasn’t sure why teams moved faster this year, but pointed to MLB’s future plans for local media rights as one reason.

“I wish I could answer those questions, I do,” Boras said. “I think a lot of it has to do with media safety. …This streaming thing they’re doing is very viable and very profitable. I don’t think they like to say that, but obviously the markets are showing that there is a different attitude to it.

“Whoever is on the market also has a lot to do with things. You have franchises in major markets, you have generational talent in the market (in Soto).”

According to Cot’s Contracts, the Dodgers’ payroll, including luxury tax projections, is around $310 million for 2025. Boras was asked if the Dodgers are trying to buy championships and he referenced the team Soto played for last season, the Yankees.

“I would say, like George … Steinbrenner said, whatever you do to compete, the fact that I can compete in a different way than others, so be it,” Boras said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the number of trophies hanging over your stadium. I don’t think the fans remember that.”

(Photo: Steph Chambers/Getty Images)