Report: Soto turned down $350 million contract extension from Nationals

Juan Soto reportedly turned down a massive — but not massive enough — contract offer from the Nationals before the lockout. 

Soto reportedly declined a 13-year, $350 million extension that was offered before the lockout began in December, according to a report by ESPN’s Enrique Rojas on Wednesday.

The contract would have begun in 2022 and did not include deferred money — a shift in structure compared to other deals the team has signed in recent years. 

Soto, a free agent after the 2024 season, confirmed the details to ESPN, adding that his agent, Scott Boras, is handling contract talks. 

The offer would have been the third-largest contract extension in MLB history. The only deals more expensive were the 12-year, $365 million deal Mookie Betts signed from the Dodgers in 2020 and the 10-year, $360 million extension that Mike Trout and the Angeles agreed to in 2019. 

The deal would have paid Soto about $27 million per year through 2034, Soto’s age-35 season. 

Despite turning down the offer, Soto told ESPN that he still wants to sign a long-term deal with Washington.

“I still think of Washington as the place where I would like to spend the rest of my career, so we will see,” Soto said to ESPN.

While turning down a $350 million extension sounds like a risk, it may not have even been a competitive offer considering what Soto, one of baseball’s top young stars, could garner on the free-agent market in a couple of years. Spotrac currently projects Soto’s next deal to be $503 million over 15 years — marking the first time the contract database website’s market valuation for a player has exceeded half a billion dollars. 

A feared hitter and an on-base machine, Soto, 23, was a vital part of the Nationals’ 2019 World Series title. After finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018, Soto has been top 10 in MVP voting in each of the past three seasons, including finishing second in 2021 behind Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper.

He’s led the league in on-base percentage in each of the past two seasons and owns a career .432 OBP. In just 464 games, Soto is two home runs shy of 100 and 15 hits shy of 500.