ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
Soto belted a career-high 41 home runs while dealing with nagging hand and forearm injuries. He finished second in the majors behind teammate Aaron Judge in on-base percentage. He ranked third in OPS, third in wRC+, fourth in slugging percentage and fourth in fWAR. He and Judge were baseball’s most productive duo since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the Yankees won 94 games, the American League East title and the AL pennant for the first time in 15 years. It was a platform year players dream about.
Along the way, Soto voiced his desire to become part of the team’s history while becoming a treasured figure in the Bronx. He embraced the roll calls in right field with air hugs. He punctuated his production with theatrics. He shuffled in the batter’s box. He stared pitchers down. He shook his head and nodded and smiled. His flamboyant relentlessness made every at-bat must-watch television. He did not yield a pitch, never mind a plate appearance. His inaugural year as a Yankee was unforgettable.
Now, though, it all might be over. The Yankees’ exclusive five-day window to negotiate and sign Soto ends Monday. Up next is a bidding war that could ascend well beyond $500 million. Surpassing Shohei Ohtani‘s heavily deferred $700 million deal in present-day value is possible.
Soto has repeatedly said he loved his time in New York. After the Yankees clinched the pennant in Cleveland, Soto’s father, also named Juan José Soto, raved in Spanish about his son’s experience as a Yankee.
“Spectacular. Spectacular,” Soto said during the Yankees’ on-field celebration. “The Yankees are the home of baseball. It’s the brand of baseball. And there isn’t anything like playing for the Yankees.”
Now, the younger Soto must decide whether he is going to play for them again.
FIVE NIGHTS AGO, Juan Soto, the son, sat atop the bench in the home team’s dugout at Yankee Stadium, dejected, watching the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their World Series title as his teammates and coaches gathered their belongings. He was still wearing his batting helmet. His bat was still in his hands.
After staring at the mosh pit in the middle of the diamond, he stood up, walked to one end, climbed a step toward the field, bowed his head, said a prayer, glanced to the heavens and touched his chest, then vanished into the clubhouse.
The Yankees’ season, an 8½-month odyssey, was over. Soto’s career in pinstripes might have ended with it.
Did you think about that possibly being your last game as a Yankee? (You never know.) Do you want to return if the money is right? (I’m going to weigh my options.) Do the Yankees have an advantage in re-signing you because this year went so well? (Every team will have the same opportunity.) Does geography matter? (I don’t think so.) Do you expect the Mets to come after you? (I don’t know, but I’m open to all 30 teams.)
“Leaving any place that is a winning team is always hard, and definitely this place was really special,” Soto said that night. “It’s been a blast for me. I’ve been really happy. If I’m here or not, I’ve been really happy for the teammates that I have and the people that I get to know. This was a really special group, but at the end of the day, we will see what’s going to happen.”
The next morning, Scott Boras, Soto’s agent, told ESPN his superstar client’s priority is playing for a winner. That, according to Boras, means “a commitment by ownership to be competitive” and “a system that provides great players and great pitching.”
“Juan loves winning and winning organizations and a winning owner,” Boras said. “The geography part of it is that Juan and his loved ones are going to be comfortable. That’s what’s most important to him. And major league geography … Juan’s played on both: West Coast and East Coast. His main thing, the priority, is winning.”
The Yankees face stiff competition for Soto’s services. The New York Mets, boosted by billionaire owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets, want him. The Toronto Blue Jays, the Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies figure to have interest. The Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants seek a franchise linchpin. The Washington Nationals, the organization that signed and developed Soto out of the Dominican Republic, would welcome a reunion.
“This is going to stay in my heart for the rest of my life,” Soto said after the World Series finale. “I don’t know how it’s going to be next year.”
THE REASON THE Yankees chose to mortgage some of their future for just one guaranteed season of Soto was never more clear than on Oct. 19, in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, with the AL pennant on the line.
It wasn’t just Soto’s go-ahead, three-run home run off Cleveland Guardians right-hander Hunter Gaddis, one of baseball’s top relievers in 2024. It was the meticulous chess game to reach that swing. Soto fouled off four straight off-speed pitches, two sliders and two changeups before seeing a fastball and attacking. It was Soto at his finest.
“What impresses me the most is how young he is and how locked in he is every single day, ready to work,” Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes said. “I can’t imagine myself being 25 years old and doing what he does, and being so responsible and creating a lot of sacrifice. Because being 25 in New York, and the success he had, it’s tough to keep it level-headed every single day.”
This was Soto’s way all through the year. He homered in his spring training debut in Tampa. He fired the game-saving throw on Opening Day in Houston. He smashed the homer that sent the Yankees to the World Series, where he batted .313 with a 1.084 OPS.
“The one thing Juan has shown us all year is that flair for the dramatic,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “and knack for big situations.”
Yankees hitting coach Pat Roessler, who worked with Soto in Washington, marveled at the slugger’s work ethic. Soto, Roessler noted, has had the same routine since his days with the Nationals. He said Soto would work extra before or after games when he felt a tick off. He offered two reasons for Soto’s otherworldly hitting skill: an unreal ability to recognize pitches early and a compact swing he can repeat with extreme accuracy.
“I’ve never had a guy that could repeat his swing like that,” Roessler said.
That skill set made Soto a superstar by his 21st birthday and a World Series champion five days after that. It prompted the Nationals to offer him a 15-year, $440 million contract extension two years ago. When he declined, he was traded to San Diego. A year and a half later, Soto, a talent likened to Ted Williams, was traded again, to the Yankees — his third team in less than three years. It was a trade Boras insisted would not have happened if Padres owner Peter Seidler hadn’t died the previous month.
“Peter Seidler would have never traded Juan,” Boras said. “Economically, we were certainly very like in-kind thinking about who Juan Soto was and what his value was.”
The question now is whether Soto’s résumé will expand to a fourth club in less than four years.
“Anybody would be lucky to have him,” Cortes said. “I’m sure this organization is dying to have him back.”
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe said he wanted Soto to return “as bad as you can probably want something.”
Veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who has never been a free agent, didn’t have any advice for Soto, only a request with a smile: “Just stay with us.”
All indications are that Soto is open to staying — and just as open to leaving. He has waited for this moment for years, ready to be finished with bouncing back and forth from coast to coast — ready for a permanent home. Now it is time to reap the benefits of his success and test the market.
His season in the Bronx might have been spectacular. There might not be anything like playing for the Yankees. That doesn’t mean he will do it again.
Rodriguez led all the way to win the $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday, earning enough points to move into the 20-horse field for next month’s Kentucky Derby.
Breaking from the rail, the Bob Baffert-trained colt ran 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.15 under Hall of Famer Mike Smith in light rain and 45-degree temperatures at Aqueduct in New York. Rodriguez won by 3 1/2 lengths.
The victory was worth 100 qualifying points for the May 3 Derby, potentially giving Baffert three entrants as he seeks a record-setting seventh victory in his return to the race from which he was banned for three years.
Later Saturday, Baffert was to saddle Citizen Bull, last year’s 2-year-old champion, and Barnes in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby in California, where it was sunny and 82 degrees.
He sent Rodriguez to New York to split up his Derby contenders. The colt was sent off at 7-2 odds in the 10-horse field and paid $9.30 to win the 100th edition of the Wood. He is a son of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.
“Bob told me this horse is probably quicker than you think,” Smith said. “He can get uptight pretty easy, and the whole key was just letting him alone out there. I don’t think he necessarily has to have the lead. He just wants to be left alone.”
Smith has twice won the Kentucky Derby. Rodriguez would be his first mount since 2022. At 59, he would be the oldest jockey to win.
“That’s up to all the owners and Bob,” Smith said. “I was glad they pulled me off the bench and I hit a 3-shot for them.”
Grande, trained by Todd Pletcher, was second. He went from having zero qualifying points to 50, which should get him into the Derby starting gate for owner Mike Repole, who is 0 for 7 in the Derby.
Passion Rules was third. Captain Cook, the 9-5 favorite, finished fourth for trainer Rick Dutrow, who hasn’t had a Derby runner since 2010 after winning the 2008 race with Big Brown.
The $1.25 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland was postponed from Saturday to Tuesday due to heavy rain and potential flooding in the region. That race and the Lexington Stakes on April 12 are the final Derby preps of the season.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska receiver Hardley Gilmore IV, who transferred from Kentucky in January, has been dismissed from the team, coach Matt Rhule announced Saturday.
The second-year player from Belle Glade, Florida, had come to Nebraska along with former Kentucky teammate Dane Key and receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. and had received praise from teammates and coaches for his performance in spring practice.
Rhule did not disclose a reason for removing Gilmore.
“Nothing outside the program, nothing criminal or anything like that,” Rhule said. “Just won’t be with us anymore.”
Gilmore was charged with misdemeanor assault in December for allegedly punching someone in the face at a storage facility in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lexington Herald Leader reported on Jan. 2.
Gilmore played in seven games as a freshman for the Wildcats and caught six passes for 153 yards. He started against Murray State and caught a 52-yard touchdown pass on Kentucky’s opening possession. He was a consensus four-star recruit who originally chose Kentucky over Penn State and UCF.
The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.
The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.
What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.
What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?
The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.
How does it help hitters?
The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.
The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.
Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?
Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?
OK. How is this legal?
Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.
Who came up with the idea of using them?
The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.
When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.
When did it first appear in MLB games?
It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.
Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?
Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.
Could a rule be changed to ban them?
Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.
So the torpedo bat is here to stay?
Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.
Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.