I thought Juan Soto was unbelievable last night. His first 3 run home run game in his career and the Yankees win and we're now back in first place in the AL East. ESPN writes of the feat:
"Juan Soto had his first career three-homer game, Nestor Cortes tossed seven shutout innings and the New York Yankees held off the Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Tuesday night to take sole possession of the American League East lead.The Generational.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 14, 2024
The 1st 3-Homer Game for @JuanSoto25_ 🙌 pic.twitter.com/COTRsBMRTE
Soto tagged starter Jonathan Cannon (2-6) for a two-run shot to left field in the third inning and went the other way again on a leadoff homer in the fifth. The four-time All-Star added his 33rd of the season in the seventh off left-handed reliever Fraser Ellard, pulling a drive to right that made it 4-0.
"I've been working on just trying to be accurate to the ball," Soto said in his postgame, on-field interview on the YES Network. "Try to make contact with the ball, put the barrel on the ball, and forget about what is going to happen."
Yankee Twitter was off the hook. So many were out there saying to "pay the man" and "Hal needs to give Soto a blank check." All of this I get in the moment. Even Gary Sheffield Jr. was drooling over him last night.
Anyone that thinks Juan Soto isn’t worth $600M+ is either in denial or flat out foolish. No 25-year-old outfielder doing this in a contract year is getting anything south of 13-years, $600 million.
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) August 14, 2024
Likely more.
And of course, Patches O'Houlihan was just plain hysterical with her memes.
JUAN SOTO WITH HIS SECOND HOMERUN OF THE GAME pic.twitter.com/xRYEBpZJAc
— Patches O’Houlihan (@sondraa) August 14, 2024
But then I got to thinking about this. We obviously know what Aaron Judge is capable of and he's shown it all season. Gerrit Cole is now back from injury, and he will come back to Cy Young form. But then there's Juan Soto who is just a very special player. And so, my mind wonders. When ya'll are saying we need to pay the man, literally hand him a $600 million dollar contract to lock this guy up to be a New York Yankee for life... are you saying we just can't do it without him? Are you saying the Yankees are just not that good?
And there are many "ifs" about that. First off, the money is ridiculous. I'm sorry, but Juan Soto is unreal, a truly special player, but $600 million dollars is a ton of money. Is it worth it? And what if it is and what happens next? Better yet, what happens when Soto slows down in 3 years, or gets hurt for an extended period of time? Are ya'll gonna be the same folks to say, "What a stupid contract" and "Why are we paying this guy so much to ride to bench?"
Look, I'm the grouchy old man sitting on the couch thinking about finances all day. My 2 oldest go to college, I have 2 younger ones. Finances is on my mind all day long, so I think about this stuff. I'm just saying is $600 million really worth it if the team surrounding Juan Soto can't win without him? It bothers me. Sometimes I think us fans get clouded with the homers and don't think long term.
Think about it. We really didn't do much this past offseason. Juan Soto for a year and Alex Verdugo and a lot of spare parts for our bullpen. Not the mention that besides Jazz Chisholm, we really did nothing at the trade deadline. Jazz is full of energy, but even he's leveled out. My point is... we need a TEAM, not a Juan Soto and friends long term and if we only pay Soto this off season, what are we really going to get? I'm wondering.
And so, I'm asking legitimately... Are you saying we need to lock in Juan Soto for $600 million because we can't win without him? And is it really worth it. Sounds a lot like a Shohei Ohtani / Mike Trout situation... and we all know how that worked out with the Angels.
Look, no doubt Juan Soto has been a pleasure to watch. I just wonder if the Yankees backed themselves into this corner because they really didn't do much over the years leading up to it. You know what I mean? I wonder if Cashman actually did his job or is Hal now freaking out cause he's in a spot of spending way too much money on a guy that may or may not be a superstar in pinstripes long term, but more importantly can help the Yankees win championships year after year.
At the end of the day, Soto is amazing, but if the Yankees don't win a World Championship this year, what the hell does it matter? And that goes for the future are well.
Just things I think about. Call me a grouch, call me an asshole, call me the party pooper all you want... I just see it a little different is all.
Happy Wednesday, enjoy the day folks!
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