As a huge baseball fan and someone who has followed and played the sport growing up Juan Soto easily should hit the new biggest contract. because I mean the guy is 26 and that is just entering your “prime.” In MLB hitters prime seems to run 25/26 to 30/31 which means whoever signs him will get not just one year but 4 or more years of prime Soto.
Any sports person could quickly say well what about Shohei Ohtani who is a two-way player and a key issue is well Soto is 3 years younger he turned 26 just a little over a month ago! Plus Ohtani could only play DH in his first season so he wont be a two way player until he is 30.
This isn't to mention the Dodgers broke the CBT system with deferral money. Yes, it will matter in 10 years but for the “baseball” foreseeable future it doesn't. Not to mention the CBT will likely grow by then and now because of the Dodgers and the Dodgers alone it is highly likely the next CBA will have owners fighting each other over the idea of a team like Kansas City, St. Louis, or Seattle saying we can't project out future far enough ahead to deferr this much money. Teams like the Dodgers will have to pay up a hell of a lot more.
Right now though well if money is what Soto is after then both the Mets and the Yankees are running against each other. Both have offered co tracts between $710 mil and $730 mil with the Mets likely being the top bidder. To me the biggest deciding factor for Soto wont be the top dollar anymore since he supposedly got 6 teams to offer over $600 mil rather it will be is he willing to never be able to opt out.
If either the Mets or Yankees sign him for over $700 mil he isn't going to be able to opt out. That will be a trade off if he wants the money. Now they are not going to care if the money is deferred or not… Rumor is Soto has been against deferred money though. He's primed to shake the foundations of the market non-the-less but exactly how will be interesting to see