"Juan Soto is gonna bring more than $50,000,000 this year" - Austin Hedges claims Mets superstar underpaid despite $765,000,000 blockbuster deal

Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges feels several players in MLB are underpaid. That includes Juan Soto, who signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets this offseason.

Hedges, who's known for his unfiltered views, appeared on Chris Rose's podcast on Monday. He stressed that teams don’t sign superstars like Soto to lose money.

"I mean, bro, it's a multi-billion-dollar business," Hedges said (29:20 onwards). "It's not like they're paying him $760 million this year, but I guarantee you he's going to bring in a hell of a lot more than the $50 million they're paying him this year. You don't pay someone to lose money; you pay someone so you make more money than that. Technically, he's worth more."

Hedges did not limit it to Soto only; he extended his thoughts to many players in the league who he feels are underpaid.

"So many guys are worth more," Hedges added. "There are so many players in this league getting paid $800K to $2 million, but what their product brings to the field on a yearly basis is worth upwards of $50 million. You've probably never even heard of some of these guys, but that's just the reality when you look at the books and the numbers."

Austin Hedges uses Shane Bieber as example to explain his point

Austin Hedges' Guardians teammate Shane Bieber was also on the Chris Rose podcast where they were discussing baseball contracts.

In December, Bieber signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Cleveland Guardians, which includes a $16 million player option and a $4 million buyout option for the 2026 season.

Austin Hedges took Bieber's contract as an example to explain his point of league players being underpaid. (Start at 30:11)

"Shane Bieber's underpaid this year, and he's making $15 million," Hedges added. "There's no reason why he's not worth double that at least. But our game is still evolving. The beauty of baseball is that we actually have players challenging the status quo. There's no salary cap, and we get our guaranteed money."

Hedges admitted his strong opinions might spark criticism; he said one of his last takes on the show was not well-received. However, he said he would "hold strong."