One for 10 with three strikeouts.
One run. No RBIs.
"Fifty-thousand against one," in terms of critics.
And a dark revelation about humanity:
What toads these mortals be.
Last year, all those bleacher creatures, all those so-called fans - they cheered him, adored him, lavished praise upon him. They knew him. They loved him. Every night. Every game. When times were hard, they picked him up. They never quit. They cared about him as a player, as a person, as a human being.
Or was it just a lie? Were they his enemies, all along?
He never claimed he would stay a Yankee for life. He never vowed to accept less money. He thought they accepted this. He thought they understood. Hey, a guy's gotta feed his family, right? Have you seen the cost of eggs? If you're going to put two kids through college - yikes! He was just a dad, a hubby, a laborer - doing the right thing. There would be no hard feelings. No anger. No resentment.
And yet they booed.
He doffed his cap. He waved to them. He said all the right things. And yet they turned their backs.
Were they not true friends, after all?
The emotional baggage takes a toll. And last night, late in the game, on a hot smash to second, the frustrations reached a boil. Soto didn't feel like running hard. He sorta jogged. Hey, all the top stars do it. At least, some do. Channeling Joggy Cano! You save yourself from the wear and tear. Run hard, and you know what happens? The infielder simply throws harder. You're out 95 percent of the time. And then, if you tweak something, you miss two months, and they'll be angrier than ever. It's not fair.
So, today, Soto will probably catch some hell. Those pundits, those talk show hosts, those hypocrites - they'll scream from the rafters. Have they never phoned in a rant? While they bluster, while they bloviate, have they never thought privately... I wonder what's the lunch special at Manny's today; it was French onion soup yesterday, and - damn, where am I? Shit, I still got 40 seconds to kill, "AND THE HELL WITH THIS SLACKER, I'M REALLY MAD!" Of course, they have. Everybody does it. But he can't? Why? Because he's paid all that money? Sorry, fools, it doesn't work that way. Tough weekend. But at least Soto has learned his one true friend.
The paycheck.
Yep, tough weekend or not. Soto knows that did the right thing, choosing the highest bidder. Seven hundred and fifty-five million dollars, plus the luxury box and cufflinks. The paycheck proves it. All the boos, the catcalls, the signage - all their ungrateful ways - the paycheck stayed true. It's his friend now. It will never boo him. He's learned his lesson.
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28 comments:
A friend who's a Mets fan thinks he'll come around. One third of the season, almost, and he's giving them bupkis. Hasn't anyone noticed that his best years were in Washington? With the exception of those seasons and last year, he's basically a.250 hitter.
I'm not buying the generational hitter hype. That would be Judge. I don't think Soto is even close to that category.
But isn’t he also a generational fielder? Isn’t he. One of those?
Isn’t there only one Juan?
A friend keeps on telling me that he’s really a Star Wars character played by Harrison Ford.
I hope that he stops telling me that.
I really do.
Of course he's overrated. Unless he does a Freddie Freeman and hits a walk off grand slam and takes the World Series MVP to boot. Then he's not overrated. Until the next season at least.
I really don't think it was the difference in the money or the luxury box. He says he thought he was going to re-up with the Yankees, but they kept horsing around, changing contract terms, until it became too much of a drag. I believe him because that sounds just like Cashman. Yankee management only makes it easy for an outside player to come here, usually only when management is desperate. That's probably what happened with Max Fried's contract. Fried didn't get much of a headache because Cashman was desperate.
Anyways, for this one instance, I don't blame Cashman for being a pain in the ass and botching the negotiations. Maybe Cashman wanted the negotiations to be botched. Because Yankee management really didn't want Soto that bad. Not at that kind of price. They did the right thing.
The new lineup certainly made a difference in this series. They did lose one excruciating game in the middle, but they won the series. It wouldn't have happened with last year's lineup. Keep in mind that the Yankees, with Soto in the lineup, got swept by the Mets last year.
Jack London wrote "Youth will be served." And it was proven once again. If Verdugo was still here and trying to score from third base, Alonso doesn't have to hurry and Verdugo gets thrown out at the plate. It's too bad we'll never know what might have happened in the World Series last year if they'd brought up Jasson Dominguez halfway through the season rather than with three weeks remaining. Or what might have been if they'd traded Gleyber Torres at the deadline and got something back. Or if they'd signed Josh Hader to be the closer instead of insisting on Clay Holmes. We could go on and on with the what ifs.
Well, they finally made some changes here over the winter and it showed. In this series at least.
Did anyone notice that Emmanuel Berbari did the play by play last night on Yankee radio? Dave Simms out with laryngitis. Berbari has so much of a better voice; he has the chops to be an FM radio dj. He also did the Sacramento A's series. Emmanuel the Barbarian was in great form last night. Must've been practicing over the winter and lately too. I thought he was maybe a bit too bland stylistically last year. Not anymore. Great voice, nice style. I had no trouble understanding a single word he said. No mumbling, no running words together. He is loud and clear, like John Sterling. I wanted them to make Berbari the new radio play by play man, but I don't get a vote.
"Maybe Cashman wanted the negotiations to be botched. Because Yankee management really didn't want Soto that bad." - Quite possibly.
Sims is merely adequate.
Much better than Sterling when it comes to describing the game. Also much better at ACCUARTELY describing the game.
That said, his voice lacks... presence. He also gets too conversational with Susan and their banter becomes just so much static.
Volpe is perpetually disappointing. The announcers keep trying to make him better than he is. He's a good fielder prone to mistakes under pressure and despite being 6th in extra-base hits for SS or some cooked stat like that he continuously fails the eye test.
Plus he squints. You know who else squinted all the time? An infielder we were all glad to see go. That's who.
Tehehee!
Not at all concerned with Soto. Just another ex-Yankee to me. All I care about is winning the game, winning the series. The rest is just histrionics.
I'm with Hammer on all the whatifs. That was a World Series waiting to be won, thanks to all the Dodger injuries, and if not for Boone, The Gleyber, and those moves Hammer cites, we steal it. Of course, that's quite a few whatifs!...
...As for Volpe, I agree, Doug. He's not that good, and he's only getting worse (possibly because he's now playing hurt). It's the Modern Yankee Dicktum: "Nobody get better, everybody gets hurt." (Except for Judge, who was smart enough to keep the Yankees coaches and trainers the fuck away from him.)...
...JM, besides Washington, Soto only played in SD, for a year-and-a-third. Where, after a slow start, he had a 2023 where he hit 35 homers, drove in 109 runs, led the NL in walks, and finished 6th in the MVP voting.
Where else did he play? Oh, yeah. The Bronx last year. Where as I recall, he was pretty good. Playing through injuries, leading the AL in runs scored, 41 HRs, etc.
But the point is not just Soto. It was Soto/Judge—an unbelievable combination, lefty-righty, with Soto young enough to be there through the rest of Judge's career. Cashie couldn't see that, somehow.
Or really, as Hammer notes, HAL didn't want him to see it, which was the real problem...
RE: Volpe, we’ve seen some 1500 PA, and I don’t see any real improvement from when he was rookie. So - what you’ve seen is what you’re gonna get for the next 3+ seasons. We can win with him at SS if we build a good enough lineup elsewhere, but he just isn’t a difference maker.
...But enough a this! Don't ya see what the juju gods are doing???!!! Can't you see their dirty, piggy little fingers on the levers of their hellish machines??? Just waiting?
THEY'RE SETTING US UP!!
And I don't just mean for the return series out in The Stadium That Should Be Known As Shea. I mean in a Subway Series!!! Soto will run amok!!!
They're here! They're already here! I mean...they're waiting! They're waiting for us!!!
My sense of fairness compels me to congratulate cashman on signing Goldschmidt over Alonso. Many voices clamored for Alonso after the Mess signed Soto; I guess maybe they saw it as retribution. But Alonso is an awful 1B, who missed play after play over the weekend. Yes, it’s inevitable that Goldy will regress over the season (as will Judge!) but he brings a professional hitting approach, good fielding, and a sense of stability in the field and at the plate. Good call, cashmsn…
Yes, we should give Dumbass credit for bringing in Fried, Bellinger & Goldschmidt. I guess Fried was pretty much a no-brainer that anyone would've signed. Turns out that Fried is the ace that Cashman has been searching for since the dynasty years.
Bellinger trade was a good move. (Hoss wanted him for a while, so chalk one up for Hoss!)
Goldschmidt was a risk, but he was always a really good hitter and came relatively cheap. You have to wonder if he'll get through the year without his back acting up, but so far so good. I think they figured Alonso cost too much. I don't know that it was anything more than bean counting and bargain hunting. But still, looks like it was the right move. If Goldschmidt gets hurt, they have Rice to play 1B full time.
BTW, anyone notice that the Yankee Stadium official scorer a-hole jobbed Jorbit Vivas out of an RBI? How can Vivas not get credit for an RBI on a fielder's choice groundball? You can't assume that the runner from third is getting thrown out at home. That's not a routine play. Yankee Stadium official scoring has always been incredibly stingy. But that decision yesterday wasn't just stingy. That was robbery. If I'm Vivas, I'm pissed cuz "I wuz robbed!"
Dominguez was running on contact and certainly looked like he could score regardless of the throw.
Yes, I see what you're saying, but his last year in Washington wasn't very good. I'm looking at BA. I'm not someone who thinks a .250 average with a bunch of home runs is great. We'll just have to watch and see how his career goes. I don't think it will live up to the hype.
Regarding Volpe, as BTR999 said, he's approximately 1500 ABs into his MLB career. His WAR is 8.7. 1500 ABs into his career, Derek Jeter's WAR was 8.0.
Defense seems to be the difference. Volpe's OPS through 1500 ABs is a borderline unplayable .628. Jeter's OPS was .801.
.682 for Volpe's OPS. My mistake. Better, but still not good.
Ever notice how every type of sports has a GOAT these days? Generational hitter my ass. Was he as good as Trout at the same point in their careers? Case closed.
It would have killed the Yankees the same way that Trout killed the Angels. Twenty years ago without the penalties, pay the man! But the penalties are too much in the long run. Wait until Ohtani starts to slow down and the merchandise market dries up. The Dodgers looked so smart after winning the Ring. But it isn't too difficult to see things turning sour for them before long.
Interesting stuff about Soto
https://youtu.be/YYIYL_pT5MA?si=71Hswpp2u5ydAfxU
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