Soto’s $765M contract is history repeating after A-Rod’s record deal

DALLAS — This is the exact spot where it happened, turning the baseball world upside down, leaving executives fuming, and publicly threatening that it would forever ruin the sport.

It led to the firing of a respected general manager one year later. It contributed to an owner suffering financial woes that ultimately forced him to sell his team nine years later.

It was the birthplace of the opt-out clause.

And it instantly made a 25-year-old baseball player the richest athlete in sports history.

The date: Dec. 11, 2000.

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The time: 1:30 a.m.

The location: Room 633, Anatole Hotel, Dallas, Texas.

It was the moment the Texas Rangers agreed to a 10-year, $252 million contract with shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

“How can I forget?’ said former Rangers GM Doug Melvin. “How can anyone forget?’

This time, it’s Juan Soto signing a record 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets.

And once again, particularly by the small- and mid-sized markets, you could hear screaming into the Texas night, and cries that the sport is broken, worrying about a work stoppage in 2026.

Scott Boras, the man who negotiated A-Rod’s contract and now Soto’s, can only laugh and will tell you it’s a shrewd business deal that will only enhance the franchise’s value.

“I think the process was very misunderstood,’ Boras told USA TODAY Sports of the Rodriguez pursuit. “When you look at the surplus value, even though the Rangers didn’t win, it was economically beneficial to the franchise. It was definitely team-friendly.’

The Rangers, of course, politely beg to disagree.

They finished in last place each of the first three years of Rodriguez’s contract, finishing a combined 99 games out of first place. Their attendance spiked the first season to 2.8 million, and then plummeted the next two seasons, dropping to 2.09 million fans.

Melvin, the architect of three division titles, was fired 10 months later. The Rangers traded Rodriguez three years later to the New York Yankees. Rangers owner Tom Hicks sold his team nine years later in bankruptcy court.

“Yes, but look at what they turned that contract into,’ Boras said. “Their franchise value grew from $250 million to $600 million with the branding. They got a new TV contract. They got naming rights on the stadium. They got land development.

“Everybody knows the surplus value of these type of deals is in the billions.’

While Soto found himself in an bidding war between the New York Mets, Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays with offers exceeding $700 million, teams were infuriated with Hicks in 2000, believing he was bidding only against himself on Rodriguez.

The Mets, considered the heavy favorites when Rodriguez became a free agent, dropped out early when then-GM Steve Phillips believed that Rodriguez would destroy the fabric of the team with special treatment if he signed coming off a World Series appearance. The Seattle Mariners, Rodriguez’s former team, offered a five-year, $94 million contract and stopped bidding. Atlanta refused to give Rodriguez a no-trade clause and opt-out language. And the Rangers kept going and going and going.

“Scott wanted an opt-out after three years, and five years, and five years, and Tom wouldn’t do that,’ Melvin said from his Florida home last week. “He said, “Come on, I can’t get the fans excited and have him then walk away.’ So, the total got higher and higher.’’

The deal closed at 1:30 in the morning, but not before the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, sensing a deal was close, went to press at 11:45 p.m. earlier in the night, reporting that Rodriguez was on the verge of signing with the Rangers for the largest contract in sports history.

“I was so nervous,’ said T.R. Sullivan, who covered the Rangers for 32 years, and broke the story. “I ran into Scott later that night and he told there were still four or five teams still involved. I [pooped] my pants. I’m driving home at 1 in the morning thinking, ‘Did I screw this up?’ If I did, I might be covering high school football for the rest of my life.’

When Sullivan arrived at the Anatole Hotel, he ran into late Atlanta executive Jim Fregosi, who assured him that they had dropped out of the bidding, and Rodriguez was headed to Texas.

“That’s when I could breathe again,’ Sullivan said.

Word spread like a wildfire in the lobby, and executives didn’t try to hide their feelings, blasting the contract and predicting doomsday for the sport.

“I’m kind of stupefied by the numbers,’ said Sandy Alderson, the former GM who was working for MLB at the time. “They’re beyond alarming. Clearly, we are in a crisis situation. Every club will be affected by this.’

Seattle Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said: “Obviously some fool stepped out of the woodwork to pay him so much he couldn’t refuse it.’

Houston Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker said: “The sooner we run this up the flagpole, the sooner we get to D-Day and a catastrophic event.’

The criticism reverberated throughout the hotel until the meetings ended and Rodriguez sauntered to town for a press conference at the Ballpark in Arlington.

“I remember going to a GM meeting later that day,’ Melvin said, “and, oh boy, did I get some bad looks. I said, ‘Wait a minute, it wasn’t my money.’ They were pretty upset with me. What was I supposed to do? Tom wanted to make a splash, he wanted Alex, and he was going to do anything he could to get him.

“It’s hard to argue he wasn’t the best player in the game.’

The deal, which also included a clause that would require the Rangers assure Rodriguez remained the highest-paid player in the game after the eighth and ninth year of the contract,  turned into a disaster. Simply, the Rangers didn’t have enough money left to build around Rodriguez. Their pitching staff was pummeled nightly, yielding a major-league worst 5.52 ERA from 2000-2003, giving them no chance to compete.

Yet, the Rangers’ demise certainly was no fault of Rodriguez’s. He led the American League in homers three consecutive years, averaging 52 homers and 132 RBI a season. He won the MVP, finished second and sixth. And was a three-time All Star, three-time Silver Slugger and two-time Gold Glove winner.

“If the contract was so bad,’ Boras said, “then why were there three or four teams trying to trade for him with that contract?’

Indeed, after the Boston Red Sox nearly acquired Rodriguez only for the players association to nullify the deal because it would require Rodriguez his salary, the Yankees swooped in and acquired him for Alfonso Soriano.

It was four years later, during the eighth inning of the fourth and final game of 2007 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, when Boras revealed that Rodriguez was opting out of the final three years of his contract. Six weeks later, he turned it into a new 10-year, $275 million deal and went on to win a World Series in 2009.

The Rodriguez deal really was the result of a perfect storm in Dallas. Hicks was the new owner on the scene, his hockey team, the Dallas Stars, won the Stanley Cup a year earlier. The Winter Meetings were in his hometown. And he didn’t just want to make a splash – but a tidal wave.

“He wanted to be one of the major successful owners in the game,’ Boras said, “and he wanted the game’s best player. It was that simple.’

Now, a perfect storm hit Dallas again, this time for Soto, 26, who is six months older than Rodriguez when he signed his historic deal. They had similar resumes and career trajectories. No one can argue that business is booming in baseball, generating in excess of $11 billion in revenue.

And when you have the biggest and most profitable markets in baseball all bidding for a player’s services, there’s little wonder why another record-setting contract is being signed.

“You have to create history before the age of 25 to be in position to garner one of those contracts,’ Boras said. “Juan is a generational talent, just like Alex was, and everyone covets them because the surplus value is so great. Juan could raise over a billion dollars in value to a team.

“Just like Alex proved, Juan’s peak years are ahead.’’

And just like with Rodriguez, Boras is bracing himself for the criticism in the industry. Rodriguez’s contract was worth more in value than 18 MLB teams, 25 NBA franchises, and 27 NHL clubs. teams. Soto’s deal won’t eclipse the value of a single MLB team, but the uproar is about to be deafening.

“It happens every time,’ Boras said. “And it will happen again.’

Twenty-four years later, in the same town, the same hotel, the same agent, only a different player, a new team and a whole lot more money.

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