San Francisco Giants’ Payroll Crunch Loom After Superstar's Contract Demand

The San Francisco Giants have been on the fringes of the pursuit for the top free agent this offseason, former New York Yankees slugger Juan Soto.

The Giants may stay that way after his most recent demand.

Recently, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported that Soto is seeking a 15-year contract.

A deal like that would put Soto among the longest contracts in baseball, and some of the players on deals of that duration are, frankly, lesser players than Soto.

With a recent report that the Giants have limitations on what they can do with payroll this offseason, new president of baseball operations Buster Posey may have little to work with if he wants to make a late run at the 26-year-old superstar.

It’s a contract duration that would carry Soto to age 41. As an example, if Soto received a 15-year deal at the average annual contract value of Aaron Judge — who spurned the Giants in free agency two offseasons ago — he would end up with a deal worth $600 million.

That is projected to be the minimum that Soto would receive, though it’s unlikely he would approach the $700 million deal the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani signed last offseason.

"While a very short deal at super high annual salary could make some sense since he would still become a free agent again in his 20s, word is out that that doesn’t interest him, especially since he’s expected to receive opt-outs in any long deal," Heyman wrote.

This would feed into the narrative that the Giants can court big-time free agents but can’t land them. There seems to be a difference this time. San Francisco is not among the five teams that have reportedly made Soto and his agents an offer. Those teams include the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox and Blue Jays.

Soto doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to make a deal. It’s not as if other free agents need Soto to set the market, as there isn’t another hitter like him in free agency this year. No one has his talent, power and track record. Plus, with his age, he’s just entering what most consider to be the prime of a baseball player’s career.

Soto is coming off his final season of team control as he slashed .288/.419/.569/.989 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI. He combined with Judge and the rest of the Yankees to get New York to the World Series, where it lost to the Dodgers.

Soto broke in with the Nationals in 2018 at age 19. While he's never been an MVP, he's been selected an All Star four times, finished in the Top 10 in MVP voting five times, won five silver sluggers and helped the Nationals win the 2019 World Series, the first in franchise history.