Outfielder Juan Soto (26), one of the "biggest fish" in the free agent market, is enjoying soaring popularity this winter. In addition to the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and New York Mets, who are known as teams that are trying to recruit him, new teams are jumping into the recruitment race.안전놀이터

The U.S. online media "SportsNet" reported on the 13th (Korea time) that the Toronto Blue Jays, which are seeking to recruit Juan Soto, will fly to California this week to have a meeting with Soto.

On the same day, U.S. sports media ESPN reported, "Boston's name at the top of this winter's recruitment list is Juan Soto," adding, "Boston plans to meet with Soto within this week."

Born in the Dominican Republic, Soto is considered the best hitter in the league. Since debuting in the big league at the young age of 19 in 2018, he surprised the world by playing in a total of 116 games with a batting average of 0.292 and 22 home runs and 70 RBIs. His OPS, which combined on-base plus slugging percentage, was excellent with 0.923.

However, this was just the beginning. In 2019, a year after his big league debut, Soto appeared in a total of 150 games and posted an outstanding performance with a batting average of 0.282, 34 home runs and 110 RBIs. He also avoided the common "Sophore Jinx." He was 20 years old at the time.

Since then, Soto has hit 20+ home runs every year so far this year, except for 2020, when the season was cut to one-third due to COVID-19. He has hit more than 100 RBIs in three seasons. This year, he has achieved his career high of 41 home runs.

Soto, who is already in his seventh year in the Major League this year, has played in a total of 936 games with a batting average of 0.285 and 201 homers and 592 RBIs. His overall OPS is a whopping 0.953. His outstanding performance is unmatched.

For this reason, various expectations are mounting over his ransom. Not a few expect a contract worth more than 700 million U.S. dollars set by Shohei Ohtani (30), a Los Angeles Dodgers superstar. Those who make such claims cited Soto's age as the reason. He performed better at a younger age than Ohtani.

On the other hand, many believe that Soto's contract of more than $700 million is difficult because Ohtani is the only player who doubles as a pitcher and batter. They argued that in the case of Ohtani, Japanese companies in his home country have the merit of raising extra-curricular income by posting various advertisements on the Dodgers' stadium, but Soto's home country is not in such economic conditions.

In addition to the existing New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, other big markets such as Boston and Toronto have jumped into the race to recruit Soto, heating up the market atmosphere. Unexpectedly, there is a possibility that the results will be unexpected.