Recent Juan Soto rumors could land him in nightmare destination for Orioles fans

The hottest ticket in the 2024 free agency sweepstakes is far and away former Yankees' outfielder Juan Soto. The lefty is hitting free agency at the perfect time, being 26 years old and coming off both a sterling 2024 season and being on a Hall of Fame track at such a young age.

Shohei Ohtani got 10 years and $70 million from the Dodgers last summer, with most of that money deferred. While Soto doesn't have quite the upside Ohtani does, mostly because he isn't a pitcher, Soto is one of the most desirable free agents to hit the market in quite a while.

Experts have suggested a wide range for his eventual contract. Some think he could surpass $600 million without significant deferrals, which would be the second largest contract, by a wide margin, in MLB history.

The Orioles haven't been officially connected to Soto, though we wish they were seriously being considered. Soto is a lefty, so he isn't a perfect fit in terms of roster construction. But his age and performance would be a great fit for Baltimore with the young core presently here.

Where will superstar free agent Juan Soto end up this winter?

The four teams being mentioned as serious suitors for Soto are his former team, the Yankees, along with the Mets, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. That's three division rivals and a Mets team with the richest owner in the sport.

It's not a huge surprise that the Orioles aren't vying for his services by getting in a bidding war with some of the richest teams in the sport. As good as Soto is, he alone wouldn't solve all of the Orioles problems. But if he remains in the AL East on a mega-deal, that's going to be extremely painful for O's fans.

Again, Soto is just 26 and has arguably the best hit tool in the entire sport. He hit .288/.419/.569 in New York last year and has a career .421 OBP. If you were to pick anyone in the league to be the best hitter in baseball 5 years from now, Soto is at the top of the list. There are other guys in the conversation but Soto's combination of age and performance suggest there's no slowing down.

It's one thing if he ends up back in New York. The Yankees traded a good bit of talent to acquire him and we've already seen what he can do with that short porch at Yankee Stadium. But if one of the Orioles' division rivals goes out and gives up the house to acquire him, it'll be painful to watch for the next decade. At least with the Mets he'd be out of the division.

Ultimately, we'll likely have to wait at least another month to find out where Soto signs. His agent, Scott Boras, isn't particularly fast when it comes to getting guys off the board. There's no reason to rush the process for Soto. Assuming he isn't coming to Baltimore, it'll be a long and arduous process watching the rumors roll in while crossing our fingers that he leaves the AL East for good.