The Philadelphia Phillies free agent target is projected to earn more than $600 million

The Philadelphia Phillies are no strangers to spending big when it comes to trying to land superstars in free agency.

Before the 2019 season, the Phillies signed superstar outfielder Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million contract, and before the 2023 campaign, they signed superstar outfielder Trea Turner, a former teammate of Harper’s, for a period of 11 years and 300 million dollars. contract.

There’s a target at the top of almost everyone’s list this offseason, who also happens to be a former teammate of Harper and Turner, superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

Speculation about where the outfielder would sign surrounded the baseball landscape throughout the 2024 season, and the postseason was no different for him. New York Yankees they pushed their way to the World Series and show no signs of slowing down until the ink is dry on whatever team Soto signed with.

While the $630 million Philadelphia locked up with Harper and Turner’s names on them isn’t chump change, that total is split between two players.

In a recent article from The AthleticTim Britton put a lot of thought into projecting the potential top free agent salaries this winter, and Britton projected Soto at 13 years, $611 million, just $19 million less than Harper and Turner at one place.

That may sound like an astronomical figure, and it certainly is, but players like Juan Soto don’t come around very often, especially players entering free agency at 25 years old.

Soto has proven time and time again that he is the best hitter in the sport, and he has yet to peak.

He knows the strike zone better than anyone else in baseball today and maybe ever, can hit for power with the best of them, hitting a career-high 41 home runs in 2023 and has a career .285 in 4,088. plate appearances in 936 games.

He can easily slot into the top of any lineup, and for the Phillies, it would give them the opportunity to move Kyle Schwarber down to the cleanup spot while moving Harper to second and would leave Turner at fifth or sixth, spacing out their lineup in a much better way.

Whoever ends up signing Soto will have to be willing to open the purse strings, and Philadelphia has shown us before that they’re not afraid to do just that.