Juan Soto just signed a $765 million contract with the Mets that could be worth up to $800 million, the largest contract in professional sports history. With this contract, the 26-year-old will reach his 40th season.

Here’s how his mega-deal stacks up in Major League Baseball history.

Largest contract in MLB history

Last winter, Shohei Ohtani signed the largest deal in MLB history after 10 years at $700 million.

However, this contract was largely deferred money, as Ohtani only makes $2 million per year and takes a whopping $68 million in deferrals in the first 10 years after the contract expires.

In fact, Ohtani’s deal had a current value of 10 years and $460 million. That $46 million per year is also the Competitive Balance Tax number that appears on the Dodgers’ tax bill.

Soto’s contract does not provide for deferrals. The Mets will pay him $75 million as a signing bonus and $51 million per year for the next 15 years unless he exercises his opt-out within five years.

In this case, the contract increases to an average annual value of $55 million per year.

This is by far the largest contract in the history of the sport. It’s more than Lebron James and Tom Brady that brought them together in their careers. That’s more than global superstars Christiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi have ever signed. It’s more than Net worth of six MLB owners. It really is an incredible amount of money.

Highest Paid Players in MLB History

Soto will be the highest-paid athlete of all time once this contract is paid out in full, both in terms of total contract and per year.

Besides him, Justin Verlander has earned the most money of any player in history over the course of his career at $404.2 million. There’s a good chance he’ll sign on for another year as well, adding to his high career earnings. And that’s still just under half of what Soto is due from the Mets.

After Verlander, Miguel Cabrera is the only other player to have earned more than $400 million in his career. Alex Rodriguez is just under that mark at $399.3 million, followed by Max Scherzer at $351.1 million and Albert Pujols at $346.5 million.

Soto’s contract could be worth almost as much as Verlander and Pujols’ combined career earnings.

In terms of annual earnings, Soto’s $51 million surpasses the previous record of $43.3 million shared by Scherzer and Verlander. Aaron Judge had the highest AAV for a position player at $40 million. Excluding any deferrals, Ohtani’s contract is worth $46 million annually compared to the Dodgers’ competitive tax threshold.

MLB Single-Season Contract Milestones

Soto will become the first player in MLB history to earn more than $50 million in a single season, setting a new all-time MLB contract milestone.

As far as historical milestones go, Ty Cobb became the first player to break the $10,000 mark in 1913 after winning six straight batting titles.

Babe Ruth became the first player to earn $50,000 in a single season after hitting 113 home runs with 303 RBI and a .377 batting average in the two years prior to his record-breaking contract in 1922.

It took until 1949 for Joe DiMaggio to become the first $100,000 player in baseball. However, that would be the shortest season of his career and he would retire just three short years later.

After that, increasing contracts came to a standstill. It took until 1974 for Dick Allen to receive his first contract for $250,000. That year was also the last time he hit 30 home runs or had an average above .300.

Just three years later, Mike Schmidt signed his first $500,000 contract. He broke the age-old trend of players earning their huge salaries toward the end of their careers by signing his six-year contract at age 27 and winning two MVPs and a World Series during the life of that contract.

Then MLB’s reserve clause fell and free agency caused contracts to skyrocket. Nolan Ryan signed the first million-dollar contract in 1980 – a tripling of his previous season salary with the Angels – just five years after Jim “Catfish” Hunter became the league’s first free agent. Ryan led the league in rushing in six of the eight seasons before signing his mega-deal with Houston.

Bobby Bonilla signed the first $5 million contract in 1992 and the Mets are still paying him out. Five years later, Albert Belle signed the first $10 million deal.

Then Alex Rodriguez became both the first $20 million and $30 million player. Scott Boras signed both contracts, first with the Rangers in 2001 and then with the Yankees in 2009.

Scherzer became the first player to sign a $40 million contract with Steve Cohen and the Mets before the 2022 season. He was joined the next offseason by Judge and Verlander as $40 million men.

Largest contracts in Mets history

Obviously, Soto immediately becomes the highest-paid player in Mets history. He will make more annually than Scherzer or Verlander, wiping out Francisco Lindor’s 10-year, $341 million contract.

Before this era of rampant Mets spending under Cohen, the Wilpons were hesitant to hand out mega-contracts. They signed Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $110 million contract in 2016 after making two straight playoff appearances.

The previous owners said the contract was too large for them to participate in the bidding for Manny Machado or Bryce Harper in 2019, as few teams had multiple $100 million players.

David Wright signed an eight-year, $138 million contract in 2012 that left the organization financially crippled. That was followed by Jason Bay’s four-year, $66 million contract, which looks like a doozy today. Additionally, Johan Santana only played one full season after signing a six-year, $137.5 million contract in 2008.

Soto’s contract ushered in a new day for the Mets and baseball contracts in general.