"While the two sides did not discuss years or dollars, (Juan) Soto reportedly came away 'impressed' by Boston’s plans for the future."
Okay. Fine. Whatever. I have no truck with Juan Soto kicking tires, flushing toilets and ruffling the couch for crumbs of Cheetos. That's what you do. Nor is it disloyalty to hype all bidders, to rouse an auction to the highest levels of fiscal absurdity. Surely, that's what Soto was doing this week, when he spent three hours with Redsock happy-talkers. Surely, he was just gassing the fire, seeking to squeeze a few more dimes from the billionaires, as he conjures the fattest deal in baseball history.
That said, it's time we discuss what Soto's next contract cannot guarantee: His career legacy in New York.
Last season, from day one, Soto was cheered and toasted by fans of both the Mets and Yankees, who saw him as a generational star for their teams. With rare exceptions - usually, codgers who saw him as a showboat - Soto won renown from the Gammonites and talk radio blowhards who shape public opinion, and who can be incredibly cruel. He was never ripped. He was never booed. From April to October, Soto received complete adulation and - in turn - he gave Gotham a season to remember.
But here's the rub: If spurned, unforgiving NYC fans will give Soto a decade of seasons that he'll never forget.
If Soto rides off to Boston, it would be viewed as an absolute betrayal, the type that causes jerseys to be torched in public, and which rouses catcalls from the earliest crevices of spring. I'm talking about a sea of flaming hot negativity. Not scattered boos, but walls of them.
Not only that, but if Soto runs to the Mets, he will instantly enflame half of the NYC fan base. He would, in effect, piss on a Yankee team that gave him nothing but love throughout 2024. He will instantly soar to No. 1 on the IT IS HIGH personal vendetta shit list. That means juju - bad juju - and we'll see if he ever repeats the numbers of last year.
This is not a threat. It's a whine, a whinny, a bleat. On the dark side of every love affair, there is a broken heart that burns for retribution. In 2024, Soto became a great Yankee. If he returns to the Bronx, though I'm sure Met fans will feel a bit used, the sports world will know that he responded to the treatment he received last year.
And if he runs off to, say, Boston, I hope his newfound wealth can buy him a set of noise-canceling headphones. And when he calls to make reservations at his favorite restaurant, I hope they slam down the phone. There is a dark side of the moon. Just sayin...
I’m fairly certain that Mr SoTo will be able to pull the trigger on a decent pair of noise canceling cans to slide down over his melon.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's crying time again, you're gonna leave me,
ReplyDeleteI can see that faraway look in your eyes...
While I'm sure Soto wants all the dollars and years that anyone can put on the table, he also wants to play on a team that knows how to win the WS year after year. Some of the questions posed by Boras and Soto to his suitors, go to the heart of player development and institutional leadership.
ReplyDeleteHe's seen the corporate cluster-fuck that is Cashman's front office. The witless, arrogant, nepo-baby decision-makers, the white collar blame-shifting, the moronic, analytic ignorance of baseball, their slide-rule understanding of human bodies and their sock-puppet manager, dispensing excuses and pretending to be in charge, while his players loaf through the games, showing no understanding of baseball fundamentals.
He's going to sign with the Dodgers.
Nobody ever thinks of the Twins or the Royals or Milwaukee. Really fun places I'm sure Soto will take a hard look at.
DeleteMaybe Boone will accept a position in Trump’s cabinet…..
ReplyDeleteYes, Duque, there is a dark side of the moon. But if you play a compilation of Soto highlights from 2024, it's amazing how well the audio syncs to "The Wizard of Oz." Freaky, man.
ReplyDeleteLove it, Dr. T! "...their slide rule understanding of human bodies..." Amen! "Of COURSE Anthony Rizzo is okay to play first base..."
ReplyDeleteJM, I think the last person to do that was Robbie Cano, and he was never heard from again.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought but, uh….maybe we can get Mike Tyson to play first base in 2025.
ReplyDeleteJuan Soto will never ever be on my Vendetta list. The Hal and CashBrain already are at the top of that list, and it falls on them if they fail to sign Soto. I'll have to try think of a new category for them. Maybe add oak leave clusters or something.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Warbler! And Dr. T.
ReplyDeleteYeah, if I wanted to have a great chance to win every year—and after you nail down that $65 mill a season, or whatever he gets, what other motivation is there?—I'd want to go to the team that best guarantees that opportunity. On that, I'd go with the Dodgers—with serious consideration given to the Mets, who already have the proven big spender and the front-office wizard and the terrific manager in place.
The Yankees? Not so much.
And that truly is the difference, isn’t it? One of the big perks that the Yankees would dangle was the idea that we were in it to win it.
DeleteThe only way another player can now view the Yankees is that we either don’t really want to win or that we are not capable of winning. Nothing like sustained mediocrity to generate a stench that cannot be stanched.
DeleteI remember when that gold standard first started to tarnish, when Mad George went so crazy. By the mid-1980s, it was becoming harder and harder to get first-rate free agents to come to the Yankees. And now here we are again.
ReplyDeleteThose were dark days. Wasted Mattingly's best years. We didn't get interesting again until George got suspended and some guys who knew what they were doing took charge.
DeleteWhere is Howie Spira when you need him?
At least Donnie's son is now running the Phillies. Yet another Yankees connection to that team.
I think I’m feeling overly optimistic we sign Soto.
ReplyDeleteWe won't. They're not even trying to make it look good. Oh, eventually, they'll get around to leaking some big dollar amount to the press, and say they finished second. But it's nonsense. It'll be like it was with Blake Snell, when he tried to turn around and accept their offer. "Uh, did we say THAT much? No, what we meant was..."
ReplyDeleteThe mid 1980s teams were compelling. Just not enough pitching.
ReplyDelete