The Yankees’ rival was revealed as a surprise mystery team in the Juan Soto Sweepstakes

A surprising new team has added superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

According to MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Tampa Bay Rays are the seventh known suitor to express interest in Soto.

According to Heyman, the Rays appear to be in seventh place in the race for Soto, behind these six high-market, high-payroll clubs: New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants.

“Right now, Tampa has to be considered a distant seventh on the list, as it’s hard to imagine them competing with the biggest markets in baseball, starting with both New York teams but not stopping there,” Heyman wrote .

Although the Rays are not considered serious contenders to sign Soto, they have already made Aaron Judge a 10-year, $300 million offer in the 2022-2023 offseason, as the superstar told Kristie Ackert last summer the Tampa Bay Times said.

Judge ultimately re-signed with the Yankees for nine years and $360 million, but the Rays made a respectable offer in the process.

Could Tampa do the same with Soto? That seems unlikely considering Soto is destined to get either the richest contract in baseball history or the second-highest grade. Soto is rumored to be seeking a $700 million deal, but it could end up being somewhere between $600 million and $650 million.

Right now, the Soto sweepstakes appears to be a two-team race between the Yankees and Mets. The Bronx Bombers would like to bring Soto back after he helped them reach the World Series for the first time since 2009. But the Mets have a wealthy owner, Steve Cohen, who is trying to build a sustainable winner.

Soto, who just turned 26, is the type of player any organization can build for the future. The young star is in the Hall of Fame and is expected to land a historic contract this offseason with multiple teams vying for his services.