Juan Soto broke the Internet last night when his free agency decision was finally announced. The speculation was that Soto was either going to stay in New York and play for the Yankees or move across to the country to join the reigning World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Instead in a move that still has people scratching their heads, he chose to join the B team in New York, the New York Mets.
Everybody knew no matter where he went, that Soto was probably going to reset the market with his new deal, and he did. In his single season with the Yankees, Soto established himself as one of the young future faces of the league. Soto with the Yankees this season hit .288/.419/.568 with 41 home runs, 128 runs scored and a third-place finish in the MVP voting. This made him one of the most sought-after free agents in MLB history and his record-breaking deal confirms that.
Soto’s deal is largest in U.S. pro sports
Late last night, Soto announced he will be taking his talents to Queens for a 15 year/$765 million deal. In total dollars, this tops the contract Shohei Ohtani received from the Los Angeles Dodgers last year for 10 years and $700 million, making it not only the largest deal in MLB history, but the largest contract in professional sports. However, in terms of average annual value, Ohtani remains at the top at $70 million a year to Soto’s $51 million, though a substantial portion of that has been deferred.
So why would Soto leave one of the most iconic and recognizable franchises in sports for their ugly stepbrother? It’s pretty simple actually; he wanted his own throne, his own team, his own city, and that just could not happen with the Yankees. The Yankees have it all. They have bottomless pockets, one of the most iconic fields in history, and everybody wants to play with them. They even finally made it to their first World Series in 15 years, so they are starting to win big again. But when you say the Yankees, the first person you think about is not Soto and that was too much for him to bear.
Second banana in the Bronx
The Yankees are Aaron Judge’s team, and they will be for the foreseeable future. Why would Soto want to spend his prime years as second banana to a player he probably feels that he is better than. Yes, Judge won the American League MVP, and he deserved it. But come playoff time he was exposed badly. When the Yankees needed him most on their World Series run, Judge disappeared and couldn’t hit a softball if that was pitched. You know who showed up? Soto.
Soto had a much better playoff in total than Judge, proving the pressure doesn’t faze him. But when it was all said and done, and the Dodgers were victorious, guess who got the lion’s share of credit for the most successful season in Yankees history since 2009? Not Soto. It was the man who was a big reason they lost. All the Yankees cared about was protecting Judge, and unfortunately it cost them Soto.
Soto will enter this season as the unquestioned leader of the Mets. He will also have the chance to become a New York legend in his own right because if he can lead the Mets to a World Series, he will be revered as a New York GOAT, regardless of if Yankee fans now hate him. The Mets have been a second-banana franchise for a majority of their existence. The Mets have had a better record than the Yankees just four times in their history. Since 1995, the Mets have made the playoffs just seven times, including their march to the National League championship Series last year. The Mets have slowly but surely been getting better, and Soto might end up being the catalyst for greatness.
