Juan Soto pocketed a cool $1 million on Monday with a swing that is priceless.
After a tumultuous couple of days fighting off trade rumors that could have dampened his All-Star Week, Soto defeated a legend and stymied a rookie to win the Home Run Derby and the cash prize that went along with it in front of a capacity crowd at Dodger Stadium.
After turning down a 15-year, $440 million contract extension on Saturday from the Washington Nationals, Soto touch down in Los Angeles in the early morning hours of Monday, with his future in limbo ahead of the August 2 trade deadline. He emerged unbothered. When asked by the media before the Derby whether he was going to win, he answered in typical Soto fashion: “Probably.” That prediction came true, vanquishing Albert Pujols in the second round and Julio Rodriguez in the finals.
“I’m a lone survivor,” Soto said. “I’ve been going through all this stuff, and I’m still here standing up and with my chin up, all the time. And that shows you I can go through anything.”
Anything, in this case, included a media day filled with questions regarding whether the Nationals will deal him in the next two weeks before the August 2 deadline or where he might end up. Soto instead was focused on his powerful left-handed swing, shooting balls in all directions and finishing the finals with 19 home runs, just one ahead of his Dominican Republic countryman Rodriguez.
At 23 years, 266 days old, Soto became the second-youngest Derby champion, just a day older than 1993 winner Juan Gonzalez.
Until the final round, the Derby had been the latest chapter of the J-Rod Show. Rodriguez, the gifted 21-year-old Seattle Mariner outfielder, destroyed the field Monday night, taking out the two-time defending champion and smashing 81 home runs overall.
The first batter of the night, Rodriguez made an early statement with 32 long balls in his first-round matchup against the Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager. Then came Pete Alonso, the slugger from the New York Mets who won the last two competitions in 2019 and 2021, but only manufactured 23 home runs in the semifinals, well behind Rodriguez’s 31.
Then came his bout with Soto, against whom, Rodriguez said, he used to play Call of Duty games. Rodriguez got the better of him at COD; Soto, at least on this night, was superior at HRD.
“What did I show the fans?” Rodriguez said. “Who I am, I guess. They know a little bit now.”
Rodriguez, who is earning the MLB minimum wage of $700,000 this season, received nearly that much in one night, a $500,000 bonus as the runner-up.
Soto was there to win from the beginning, making quick work of Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez in the first round and St. Louis Cardinals’ great Pujols in the semifinals. Pujols, 42, is in his last season, upset Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, the No. 1 seed in the first round, beating him in an extra session. He could not hang with Soto, whose 482-foot home run in the opening round traveled the longest distance of the night.
“I wasn’t sure if I should beat him or let him beat me, but just the respect — I respect him a lot,” Soto said. “Even though I beat him at the end of the day, it’s just a competition. He knows how much I’m proud of him and how much talent he brings to all the generations and advice that he gives to us.”
Whatever is in the cards for Soto, wherever he winds up, whether he is moved before this deadline or after, he stated he would walk away from this All-Star experience sure of one thing.
“I will be a Home Run Derby champion forever,” he said.
