Is Juan Soto Worth $700M? Yankees Limited Partner Polls Internet

It seems that everyone has thoughts on Juan Soto, including someone with a stake in the outfielder’s most recent employer.

Patrick Bet-David, a limited partner with the New York Yankees, posted a poll on Twitter/X asking if the 26-year-old free agent is worth a potential $700 million contract this offseason. The poll, which has more than 23,000 votes as of publish time, offers three choices: “Yes”, “No” and “What’s the alternative?”—which appears to question how the team could replicate Soto’s presence in its lineup with other free-agent options.

Most respondents aren’t willing to write such a big check, as 46% said no, 40% said yes, and the remaining 14% said “what’s the alternative?”

Multiple media reports have said that in addition to the Yankees—whom Soto was traded to from the San Diego Padres in the 2023 offseason—the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays are in the running to sign him. One report that has circulated since Sunday is that the Red Sox, who infamously spoke of reining in spending after trading Mookie Betts to the Dodgers after the 2019 season, have instilled “fear” into the Yanks in their pursuit of the coveted Soto.

Soto has been instrumental in the fortunes of three franchises since he was called up to the majors by the Washington Nationals as a 19-year-old in 2018. He helped the Nationals win their lone World Series in 2019, had the Padres get within three games of a World Series appearance in 2022 and led the Yankees in several offensive categories in their run to the World Series this fall.

In 2023, Bet-David joined a group of other minority owners including longtime stakeholder Marvin Goldklang, Lester Crown and Jerry Speyer. Though Bet-David’s fortune was built with PHP Agency Inc., an insurance firm he founded in 2009, his public profile has been built through Valuetainment, an entrepreneurship and politics-focused platform that started as a YouTube channel in 2012.

Among several replies Bet-David made to some Twitter users who responded to the Soto poll, the most notable was a predictor of sorts. When one user said that “no ball player is worth $700 million,” Bet-David replied, “the market disagrees with you. We’re five years away from a billion-dollar contract.”