Juan Soto has now left behind Shohei Ohtani as the most expensive signing ever in the history of the Major League Baseball. He will be seen in the New York Mets shirt soon as the franchise signed the Dominican superstar for a record-shattering sum of $765 million for a 15-year contract. (More Sports News)
🍬With the record deal done, here is a look at who Juan Soto is and what all has he achieved in his career so far.
Who is Juan Soto?
ღJuan Soto is a 26-year-old outfielder who was born in the Caribbean island of Dominica. His father pushed him to pursue baseball and Soto's talent helped him rise up in the sport.
🐲Soto made his professional debut in 2016 for the Gulf Coast League Nationals in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) and was named the most valuable player of the tournament in his very first year.
🐽Soto made his Major League Baseball debut in 2018 for Washington Nationals. At just 19 years of age, he became the youngest player ever to play the league. At the end of the season, Soto had managed to get a place in the MLB All-Stars Team for the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series.
ꦰIn 2019, Soto became only the fourth player in MLB history to record 100 extra-base hits before his 21st birthday. Soto's .333/.438/.741 with 3 HR and 7 RBIs helped Nationals win their first World Series and the Dominican found a place in the All-MLB Second Team.
ꦍSoto followed up with another superb season in 2020 where he won his first career Silver Slugger Award and was also named to the All-MLB First Team for the first time in his career. He won both the awards in the 2021 season as well.
ܫIn 2022, the Dominican was traded to San Diego Padres in a massive trade which involved several players. After two years with Padres, Soto travelled to New York to play for Yankees in the 2024 season. He was yet again named in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.
ꦇHe has now won five straight Silver Slugger award and also featured in the All-star team every year since 2021.
🙈Soto is regarded as one of the most disciplined hitters currently. The 26-year-old ranks 20th in career batting average (.285), his first in on-base percentage (.421), ranks fourth in slugging percentage (.532), third in OPS (.953) and 11th in at-bats per home run (16.3). Soto also has 21 home runs and 934 hits to his name in 936 career games.
