Jeff Passan Explains Why Juan Soto Will Be MLB’s First Hot Stove Dish

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In recent years MLB’s Hot Stove has been kind of lukewarm. Even with big ticket free agents on the market, the pursuit of free agents dragged well into the New Year each winter. But ESPN’s Jeff Passan tells today’s host, David Dennis Jr., that won’t be the case with Juan Soto this offseason. The transcendent lefty slugger has virtually every big market owner chasing after him with a blank checkbook, looking to change the fortunes of their team with one big transaction. And with Soto looking to find his new home by the end of next week’s winter meeting, and Scott Boras leading negotiations for him - and a bevy of other big name free agents - the dominos should start to fall soon. You can honor Jim Valvano and support ESPN’s V Week with a donation to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm David Dennis Jr., hosting the ESPN Daily podcast today, and I want to share with you that across all of ESPN, it's V week.
0:12.8	This is something we do every year to honor our teammate Jim Valvano by supporting the V Foundation for Cancer Research,
0:19.4	the foundation that he announced in his unforgettable SP speech so many years ago.
0:24.6	Don't give up. Don't ever give up.
0:27.2	While lots of things have changed in the 30 years since that S.B. speech,
0:30.6	the need for cancer research hasn't.
0:33.0	When you give to the V Foundation,
0:35.0	100% of your donation goes directly to research, making the dream of
0:39.6	victory over cancer more possible every single day. If you're able, we hope that you'll donate.
0:46.5	Go to v.org slash donate now and help support the critical work of the V Foundation for Cancer
0:52.5	Research. Thank you.
1:11.9	Jeff Passon, back in August of 2022, after Juan Soda had been traded by the Washington Nationals to the San Diego Padres, this feels like a lifetime ago, as I'm saying this. You joined us on ESPN Daily and said this.
1:20.6	Juan Soto got offered a 15-year, $440 million contract by the Washington Nationals, did not accept it, and was traded a little more than a month later. For that to be the case, to turn down what would have been the largest contract
1:30.3	in North American team sports history, it took a lot of gumption. And where did that gumption
1:38.0	come from? It didn't come from the number of 440, not necessarily being enough. It came because
1:43.4	Juan Soda realizes that he is one of the best players in baseball,
1:48.0	that he is going to have a historically good career,
1:52.3	and that settling for $29.3 million a year
1:56.7	when there are 19 other contracts that have higher Aavs than that,
2:03.0	was just selling himself short.
2:10.4	Here you are now, about two and a half years later, and it seemed like Soto's Gamble is about to pay off.
2:14.0	Oh, it is going to pay off handsomely, David.
	...

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