DALLAS – After word spread Sunday night about Juan Soto’s record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, veteran manager Terry Francona echoed the sentiments of many people at the Hilton Anatole, where Major League Baseball notables have gathered the winter meetings.

“I was shocked. My goodness,” said Francona, who is back managing the Cincinnati Reds after a year-long medical leave from Major League Baseball.

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Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy agreed.

“I was probably like everyone else: stunned,” Bochy said after Soto avoided a return to the New York Yankees. “Every time you break a barrier you ask yourself, ‘Wow, where is this going to stop?’ Man, he’s a great player. He had a lot of influence.”

Meanwhile, some smaller club observers viewed the Soto contract as a troubling example of a league where there are some haves and many more have-nots.

Soto was scheduled to undergo a physical on Tuesday in New York, where the deal is expected to be finalized later in the week. His move has already had an impact on the annual Winter Meetings, and negotiations have been set in motion elsewhere, particularly among the wealthy teams that missed him.

According to multiple reports, the Yankees went right back to the market on Tuesday and agreed to terms with left-hander Max Fried on an eight-year, $218 million contract. They offered Soto $760 million, so they still have money to spend.

The free agent market is still booming, with 228 heading into the holiday season, including such household names as Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Paul Goldschmidt, Teoscar Hernandez, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burnes and Pete Alonso. As of Tuesday evening, only 32 had signed.

The Soto sweepstakes went to the Mets and Yankees, while the Boston Red Sox and reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were on the sidelines. The Philadelphia Phillies were also involved.

The fact that so few teams can participate in high-end talks was highlighted once again by the fact that 25 of the 30 major league teams didn’t even participate in the auction conducted by Soto’s agent Scott Boras.

This inequality urgently needs to be addressed, said Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.

“It’s at the property level,” he said. “If they need to figure out how to level the playing field, I think they should do that. At the end of the day, we know we face a challenge financially. Things were different for us than the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers and some other clubs.”

Owners are discussing how regional TV money can be distributed more evenly after almost a third of clubs lost their local TV packages.

Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke at length about the television issue at the recent owners meeting. There have also been renewed discussions about attempting to negotiate a salary cap with the players’ union if a new contract needs to be negotiated in the 2016 season. The current five-year contract expires after this season.

Practically speaking, a salary cap and a salary floor have always been taboo for players. And it could take a two-year lockout to break the union, said a baseball executive with knowledge of labor issues.

In recent negotiations, the owners locked out players after the 2021 season but gave up with no cap right before the start of the 2022 season. Despite some rescheduling, none of the 162 games were lost due to work problems.

The result now is that salaries are higher than ever as some teams spend big and others try to show some financial restraint.

The D-Backs, for example, lost the 2023 World Series to Texas and are struggling to maintain their own midfield roster and last year’s $219 million payroll. They currently have $131.9 million spent on seven players.

They are struggling to re-sign or replace three key free agents – Christian Walker, Joc Pederson and Randall Grichuk – who combined for 61 homers and 194 RBIs and were paid a total of $26.4 million. Walker declined a qualified offer. Pederson and Grichuk rejected their end of a joint option.

Because of the gaps in the roster, Lovullo can’t sleep much at night.

“Will they end up back on our team? I don’t know what that answer is,” he said. “We may have some space to fill if Joc and Walk move on. That’s a lot of insult. Yes, it might be overwhelming to think about, but we’ll figure it out.”

It’s pure fantasy for teams like the D-Backs to go after Soto or Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Dodgers for 10 years for $700 million last year.

Even the San Francisco Giants, who had success with Ohtani, skipped the Soto Derby — and they are a franchise with deep ownership that once courted and signed Barry Bonds, the eventual all-time home run king.

“My first thought is that my oldest children will be 28 when Soto stops playing (in 2039),” said Buster Posey, their former World Series-winning catcher who is now in charge of baseball operations. “That really puts it into perspective.”

Posey’s first foray into the market was to donate $182 million over seven years to former Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames. It is the largest deal ever signed in Giants history. He’s on a nine-year, $167 million contract and was paid to, you guessed it, Buster Posey, who discovered that little fact late in negotiations.

“I didn’t think twice about it,” he said. “We’re just trying to put great players on the field for the city of San Francisco.”

The Giants are also interested in Burnes replacing Blake Snell, who declined a player option and signed with the Dodgers for $182 million for five years, including $65 million deferred.

The Red Sox, who also have money to burn, were in Soto’s final lineup and still thought they had a chance until news broke Sunday night that the Mets had won the Derby. Alex Cora, the team’s manager, said their group was at a restaurant when it happened and patrons started buzzing.

“It’s good for baseball, that’s how I see it,” he said. “I think everyone was waiting for this to happen and of course it was interesting how everyone reacted when it happened.”

Like the Yankees, the Red Sox continue to scour the market without Soto.

“We have plan A, plan A1, A2, A3, A4,” Cora said. “There are many ways to achieve what we set out to do. We talked about winning the division and getting to the playoffs. There are different ways, different paths. We’re going to attack them and hopefully we can execute.”

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