Tuesday, February 20, 2024

The Soto Question

I've been hearing and seeing a lot of carping lately about Juan Soto. Namely, why would we spend $31 million plus to have a guy for only one year? (And give up a slew of young pitchers plus Higgy to get the opportunity.)

The argument seems to be that if he's just a rental, it was stupid. Because if we can't lock him up for the rest of his baseball life, it's just not worth it.

I don't get it.

The kid is amazing, a great hitter. He and Judge...well, that's going to scare the shit out of every team the Yankees play.

Yes, we could have used the young pitchers. Especially, to my mind, King.

On the other hand, the problem last year wasn't so much the pitching. It was the offense, which was terrible. I mean, once Judge stubbed his toe, we sucked. Putting Rizzo out there day after day when he had a concussion was stupid writ large. Stanton sucked, again. (And watch this year. I bet he still sucks, but just takes up less room doing it.) The kids all sucked, thanks to the ace coaching staff who fucked up their swings.

We needed a big bat. We got Soto. We also got Verdugo. Yes, I would have preferred signing Bellinger, but there's a pretty big risk there. He had a great year after falling apart. Can he keep up the production? Nobody knows.

At least Vertigo is a lefty. Prime porch material to go along with Soto.

And keep in mind, Vertiginous is likely a placeholder right now until J'asson D'ominguez, the Martian, comes back. Unless he flops after surgery, he's our center fielder now and in the future. Judge is just filling in at the moment, which is not going to destroy his fragile frame any more than running back and forth for years destroyed Scottie Pippin or whoever else you plug in there.

And yet...and yet...I hear the cry echoing throughout the land that Soto might or probably will be a rental, and we should somehow feel bad about that and worry about what might happen in 2025.

Well, I'll tell ya. We're all gonna die, and most of us can see the finish line from where we sit. Does that mean you worry about that and just give up and not enjoy your life to the fullest (within the limitations time has wrought)? So why do people sit around and moan about Soto being a rental (which, for all we know right now, he might not be at all, depending how the season goes)?

My advice is to ignore the nattering nabobs of negativity, those Yankee fans who insist on thinking like Mets fans. Carpe diem. I say, carpe annus, and I'm not talking about Porn Hub.

Enjoy this season. It could be the only one we have Soto and Judge together. For any of us, it could our last season, period.

Don't fuck it up for yourself.



 

15 comments:

  1. I agree with the sentiment, JM. But I also don't get the strategy. "Hey, all in for this year, and who cares if Soto stays or goes!" But also..."Not that we're going to get crazy and sign enough pitchers or anything! Even though they're out there for cut-rate prices."

    Huh? How does that work?

    And I think the answer is, THERE IS NO STRATEGY. Again. More seat-of-the-pants nonsense, wherein Hal and his faithful dog, Cashman, once again demand that modern baseball adjust to THEM.

    For instance, RIGHT NOW, the Yankees should be deciding WTF they're going to do with The Gleyber. But they won't—because they don't operate that way. Hence, Gleyber will either have a big year and stick them for a giant contract (doubtful), or Gleyber will underperform again and they'll let him walk...getting NOTHING in return.

    But you're right: we should sit back and enjoy what we get, 'cause we sure ain't anything more.

    Also, I'd like to apologize for the number of capitalized words in this post. Consider it a tribute to the long-lost ALL CAPS.

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  2. Also, JM: great work on pulling up all those old Cantrun quotes. Ah, the memories!

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  3. Well said!

    And thank you for using Frank Gorshin not John Astin. (No disrespect to Mr. Astin who had other claims to fame.)

    Carpe diem!

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  4. Thank you! Seriously, Higgy was a good back up but I’d rather have Wells. Brito and Vasquez are 5th staters at best and who know if King will be good or hold up for for 30-35 starts? Thorpe is the prize of that trade and how many Yankee “prospects” have become frontline staters lately? I’d rather have Soto for a season and it’s not close. I fully expect Warren and Hampton can give us at least what Brito and Vasquez did. Maybe they do end up with Snell after all this and Schmidt ends up in the King role

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  5. I’m perfectly ok with the Soto trade. With the understanding that the likelihood is he will be here for one season, yes - the team should make this a true “all in” season. Otherwise it’s more of a gimmicky deal to juice ticket sales.. Given the low bar of the final playoff spot and the easier balanced schedule we play, making the post season is a reasonable goal. A WS championship? No. Just no…

    Quote of the day: Anthony Rizzo - “All the head stuff is behind me”. No wordsmith, he.

    I don’t care much for that “Bleeding Pinstripes” The writing is predictable and rote, the opinions dull. I would much rather dwell in the Shakespearean highs and pithy cultural bombast of IIHIIFIIC, to which I return each day like deer to a salt lick. 😋

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  6. All in would be signing Snell & Montgomery, not signing every pitcher with 6.00 ERA in the last two years. This idiot gave away 3 pitchers that were MLB quality last year for a guy who is gone at the end of year, maybe by the end of July. I'd rather have Joe Biden running this team.

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  7. I've been a Soto Fan since....well, since he arrived in D.C. I am a fan of the Nats (2nd, of course, to the NYYs). Lived in MD-VA for most of my working career; now retired, I live 50 miles away, Still can see most Nats game on cable here.

    My bitch about having J.S. for one year is that it is ONLY one year. Had BCash not made that brilliant trade for Stanton, the $$$ would be there to sign Soto.

    Suggestion to Hal: OK, you don't wanna fire BCash. Instead, pretend the money you'll pay to Stanton is some kind of weird anomaly. It's being sucked into a wormhole. It's been seized by Darth Vader. Whatever.

    Surprise the fans. Sign Soto for another 7 years.

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  8. Bravo, JM.

    Please collect a tasty beverage from Porto Rico Importing!

    I was wondering a few minutes ago which will haunt us more this season:

    Judge’s concussed toe or Rizzo’s toe head?

    Only time will tell

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  9. No, I'd rather have the guy who went belly-up running a casino and a football team, and developing NYC real estate. Careful, Celerino!!!...This could get bloody. Not a good year to bring in politics.

    We should all resist.

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  10. @JM...it was the offense...and 13-12 games are more entertaining than 3-2 games...

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  11. Winnie,

    Scuba diving or overthrowing the government?

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  12. On a political note, Mayor Pete walked by us last night on the way to dinner. I wouldn't have recognized him, except the secret service guy was very incognito with a bad tourist shirt and wiry secret service thingy sticky out of his ear. And he was twice Pete's size. I feel much safer knowing they can blend in like that.

    On another political note, I thought we were all members of the surprise party. Gracie in 2024! Even in her current state, she'd still do better than the entirety of DeeCee.

    ReplyDelete

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