SEATTLE — If the salary cap proposed in Major League Baseball’s first offer this week were to take effect next season, more than 20 percent of the New York Mets’ theoretical cap space would account for just one player: Juan Soto.
Soto, owner of the richest contract in baseball history, isn’t buying it.
“I don’t think that’s right, to have a cap,” Soto said this week. “Baseball is doing great. We’ve been increasing every year. It’s been great for baseball. We are in the best moment in baseball right now in all kinds of ways. Why should we have a cap?”
In its first salvo, the league proposed a salary cap of $245.3 million and a floor of $171.2 million for 2027, with a 50-50 split of revenues. Soto is set to make $57.5 million in 2027, the first year of the new labor deal.
The Mets signed Soto in December 2024 to a 15-year, $765 million deal. Soto can opt out of the deal after the 2029 season, though the Mets can prevent that by triggering an escalator that raises his salary by $4 million annually from 2030 to 2039. His annual average value checks in at $51 million, per FanGraphs.
Soto is an extreme example. But the wrinkle of a team like the Mets fitting a large contract under a hard cap raises a complicated issue. Soto’s deal was signed under a different collective bargaining construct.
Future league offers might consider a gradual process or a grace period. The salary cap figure could end up being higher, too.
“The biggest issue we need to solve next to continue to grow the game off the field is fixing the payroll disparity unseen in any other major U.S. sport,” league spokesperson Glen Caplin said in a statement issued on May 28. “Ultimately, the game is about hope and competition and too many fans in too many markets have too little hope their team has a fair chance to win. Fans overwhelmingly support a salary cap and floor like in the other leagues.”
Whether future proposals feature some transition period or not, the overall idea of a salary cap, especially in the context of large preexisting contracts, strikes Soto and some of his teammates as nonsensical.
“It’s ridiculous,” said pitcher David Peterson, the Mets’ longest-tenured player and their union representative.
Told of Peterson’s assessment, Soto added, “I’d agree with that.”
The Mets players’ opinion echoes the union’s general stance of total opposition to a cap.
The Mets’ payroll for 2026, per FanGraphs’ estimation, is $368 million. Soto’s earnings for this year, according to the website, account for roughly 16 percent of the Mets’ payroll.
“It works in basketball in that way because they don’t have as many guys, so you have a lot less guys for the pot to go around,” Peterson said. “And that’s a league where one or two people on the team pretty much sell the team. That’s a lot harder to do in baseball.”
The Mets’ high payroll has not assured them success. They are 27-35 while dealing with a handful of injuries and an inconsistent lineup, among other issues. New York entered Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners last in wRC+ (86) and OPS (.649).
Meanwhile, Soto boasted a 165 wRC+ and .959 OPS with 13 home runs — more than 20 percent of the Mets’ total home runs for the season despite missing 16 games in April.
Soto doesn’t make up 100 percent of their offense. It can just feel that way sometimes.
