Well, the off-season has officially begun with the close of the 2024 World Series. The MLB free agency pool will surely go crazy over the next coming months with signings. One of the top free agents this season will be Juan Soto.
Cubs May Not be Interested with a High Price
Options for Soto would be slim due to the rumored asking price of a contract for upwards of $700 million. Only time will tell if the Cubs are willing to spend that kind of money on a great hitter. Jon Heyman thinks the Cubs will not go for it.
On a recent radio interview on 670 The Score, Jon Heyman was interviewed about his thoughts on the free agency signing. He explains that the history of the larger signings for the Cubs, like Dansby Swanson signing for $177 million was a larger step than the Cubs are used to. So, the Chicago Cubs are unlikely to sign Juan Soto to such a huge deal in 2024.
“I’m sure they will make the call. I don’t know if they are one of the eight teams that called already,” Heyman said. “Probably 12 teams will eventually call. I think if you’re a big market team and you don’t throw your hat in the ring, the fan bases will go nuts. Are they a realistic team to get him? I doubt it. Looking at the history, right? $177M for Dansby Swanson was really stepping out for them. They are a big market, obviously. Big revenue team, certainly a top 10 revenue team. But do they have the revenue of the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Mets or the Red Sox? Not quite.”
They will probably call to show interest, but nothing may come of it which is disappointing for Cubs fans.
Juan Soto 2024 Stats
Soto is hitting free agency from the New York Yankees – where he competed very well with 41 home runs, 109 RBI’s, and a .288 avg. The latter score is the best he’s had in the past 4 seasons. Soto would add a real power threat to the Cubs lineup if he did indeed end up signing with the Cubs.
2024 Off Season
Last off season, the Cubs promoted themselves in looking for and would sign big bats to their lineups, but most of those signings fell through. The one major signing they did have was their re-signing of Cody Ballinger but for the most part they did not meet expectations the fans had in the off season. This off season, the Cubs should be looking for more heavy batters to help out with their offense. The team’s collective batting average was .242 and a slugging percentage of .393. Should the Cubs decide to sign Soto, those numbers would dramatically increase.
New Roster Slots Open
The Chicago Cubs do have some open slots on their 40 man roster after today’s free agents dropped from the Cubs roster: Kyle Hendricks, Caleb Knight, and Jorge Lopez. Another option may be coming when the mutual option of Drew Smyly is accepted of declined.
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