JUAN SOTO BREAKS THE BANK WITH THE METS
From the Press Box
by: Amaury Pi-González
On Sunday, December 8, 2024, Juan Soto, a free agent, signed a 15-year deal with the New York Mets for $765 Million. Soto, born in the Dominican Republic, now has the most significant contract in professional American sports, more than the previous holder of that distinction, Japanese two-way star LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, who recently won the NL Most Valuable Player for the third time. Juan Soto beat Ohtani by $65 million.
To put Juan Soto’s contract/salary in perspective, the Dominican Republic, where Juan Soto was born 26 years ago, is an island of 11 million people. The average salary in this Caribbean nation is $7,272 per year or about $606 per month.
However, if you think the Dominican Republic is the poorest island in the Caribbean, you are mistaken. Cuba, which is the largest island in the Caribbean, according to all available data, the average salary of a Cuban citizen is around $30 to $40 US dollars per month or roughly 4,000 Cuban Pesos per year. The reason is straightforward: Cuba’s government is a communist system where the communist leaders set the wages, they put the prices, and they distribute the wealth. This was not the case for Cuba until 1960 when the island was one of the most prosperous and advanced countries in the Caribbean and all of Latin America.
Unsurprisingly, the Mets, not the Yankees, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Giants, or any other baseball team, signed Mr.Soto. It was the New York Mets, whose owner, Steven A. Cohen, is considered one of, if not the wealthiest, MLB owners, with an estimated net worth of $16 to 20 billion.
The news of Soto signing this incredible contract hit the Dominican Republic like a thunderbolt, and all the media reported it as Breaking News with great pride and admiration. One colleague from the Dominican Republic told me “Nos sentimos muy orgullosos de ser el pais con el pelotero con el salario más grande en la historia” Trans: “We feel very proud to be the country with the baseball player with the largest contract in history”
