EXTRA GIFT FROM YANKEES TO SOTO REVEALED

I mean, are you kidding me?

Let’s get this straight—Juan Soto played one season in pinstripes, cashed a $30 million check, smiled his way through some postgame interviews, and now he’s a Met. And now it's being revealed that the Yankees gave Soto a parting gift.  They send him a Tiffany wristwatch and a handwritten note from Hal Steinbrenner, like he just finished a decade of loyal service and retired with distinction.

Seriously?

Word is leaking out—now—that Soto received this “gift” shortly after his locker was cleaned out. A top-shelf Tiffany timepiece, engraved with the words: “Once a Yankee—Always Respected.” Respect? For what? For chasing the biggest payday in town and hopping crosstown to the Mets the second the ink dried on his arbitration deal?  Stupid move, but clearly a way to try and entice him back to the Bronx. But let's make it clear; the Yankees played that signing wrong from the start.

And don’t forget—the Yankees also handed him his 2024 American League Championship ring. He wore the jersey for one year. That’s it. The fact is they also gave rings to Clay Holmes and Desi Druschel. Fine. But that's where it should have stayed for Soto too. He’s already in Queens learning how to misplay fly balls in orange and blue.

What’s more insulting is the timing. This news didn’t break during his departure—oh no. It’s only surfacing now, long after he’s strutted out of Yankee Stadium and into Citi Field. Why? PR strategy? A last-ditch olive branch? Or maybe just plain old desperation dressed up in class? Nice work by Pinstripes Nation who put the story out today.

Make no mistake, Juan Soto is a tremendous hitter. But he's also a mercenary. And that’s fine—baseball’s a business. But don’t pretend it was anything more than that. Don’t let Hal’s penmanship and the Yankees’ luxury taste rewrite the story. Soto didn’t leave because the Yankees didn’t try. He left because they didn’t overpay.

And now, we’re supposed to pat him on the back with a “thanks for the memories” and a Rolex-level trinket?

Here’s a better gift: a thank-you card that reads, “Best of luck—just not against us.” That’s it. Nothing engraved. Nothing from Tiffany’s. And certainly nothing that screams desperate to be liked.

Because at the end of the day, the real gift wasn’t a watch. The real gift was playing for the Yankees. And Soto? He gave it back with the tag still on.

MEET THE YANKEES LOSER COACHING STAFF

Eric Chavez didn't even put a Yankee uniform on yet... and he bailed for the Mets. First off I find that kind of messed up that you agree to a gig and then bail, but secondly, I am very curious to if the Yankees actually offered the veteran a job. I wonder if they just threw Chavez in the mix when they announced their coaching staff a few weeks ago as a way to distract from the fact that the Yankees coaching staff has LITERALLY NO EXPERIENCE. I mean what are we doing here?

Dillon Lawson is not the answer. The Yankees hitters can probably teach him a thing or 2 about hitting. Dillon was the Yanks minor league hitting coordinator since 2018. Here is where Dillon's been since 2008:

2008-2009 Assistant coach Lindenwood University
2010-2011 Assistant coach Morehead State University
2012-2015 Assistant coach Southeast Missouri State University
2016 Coach Tri-City ValleyCats
2017 Assistant coach University of Missouri
2018 Coach Quad Cities River Bandits

And any person can make this next suggestion. This is an actual quote from Lawson. Lawson told The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pa., in July that the organization’s goal was “to square the ball up more, which in turn is going to increase average exit velos.”

I mean, you're not fooling anyone.

Let's talk about Casey Dykes. By the way, Casey Dykes is not the answer. Dykes played for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in 2011 and 2012. I know what you're think... SO??? Right. 

Before that Dykes graduated from Franklin High School in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2008, a year before the Yankees won their last World Series. He bounced around as baseball assistants at a few universities. And then in 2019, the New York Yankees hired Dykes as a minor league hitting coach...September 2019.

2021, Dykes was the hitting coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Fail up I guess. Moving on...

Carlos Mendoza is not the answer. Mendoza played in Minor League Baseball for 13 seasons.

After that be bounced around in the minor leagues Yankee farm system as a coach, and after the 2017 season, Mendoza was promoted as an infield coach for the Yanks. Mendoza became the bench coach in November of 2019. And he's done nothing for the Yanks since.

Right, let's put trust in this.

Matt Blake is not the answer. Blake became pitching coach for the Yankees in 2020, succeeding Larry Rothschild. He has never played professionally. He was a high school coach in Massachusetts for Cressey Sports Performance.

In 2010, he became an associate scout for the Yankees, whatever that means and then in 2015, he became a pitching coach in the Cape Cod League. That same year he went to the Indians organization as a minor league pitching coordinator. And that's it folks. 

You feel good right now?

Luis Rojas is not the answer.  Rojas was signed in 1999 as a third baseman by the Baltimore Orioles for $300,000 after graduating from high school. He was in the Marlins and Expos and Nationals farm system trying to make it. He even played in the Gulf Coast League for a hot moment in with the Expos minor league system. But he got hurt, and that was the end. He managed for the Mets in 2020 and 2021. You all know how that turned out.  

But gang, that's it. Nothing more.

Tanner Swanson is not the answer. 

Swanson is the major league quality control coach and catching coordinator for the Yankees and was the Minor and Major League Catching Coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. Before that you ask? He was hired as a full-time assistant coach at Santa Clara University in July 2017. Oh yeah and he played College ball for Green River Community College. Sounds like a winner.

Desi Druschel is not the answer. Desi started coaching in 1996 as an assistant at Vinton-Shellsburg. That went until 2000. He was also an assistant coach for Indiana University from 1999 to 2000 and Mount St. Clare College from 2000 to 2001.

He bounced around and then was hired as director of operations for the University of Iowa's baseball program in 2014. In 2017, he was the pitching coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Yankees promoted him to their major league staff as a pitching coach after the 2021 season. He was brought in by the Yankees in 2019 and worked his way up. No offense... that doesn't sound too promising.

Travis Chapman is not the answer. Chapman had one major league at bat with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003. His Major League average is .000. 

Before that he played college baseball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Chapman spent 7 seasons in the minor leagues with the Phillies, Reds, Royals and Pirates and retired in 2006. 

He served as a coach for the Charleston River Dogs for a while, and now he's with the Yankees big team... because I guess lack of experience really catapulted him there.

And this brings me back to that big word...EXPERIENCE.

Mike Harkey has it and while the bullpen coach, he knows these players, understands them, understands what works and what doesn't work. 

He is content being out there. Why? Because he's good at being the Yankees bullpen coach. After all, he grew up as a pitcher in the MLB. 8 years to be exact. He's no slouch.

And Eric Chavez has experience and could have possibly been a nice fit. But the Mets poached him. That alone is fucked up but Steve Cohen wants to be big dog in Queens. Let him. I could care less. I do believe in ethics and morals however and I can't for the life of me understand why he thought going across town and taking coaches was ok. But don't worry, it will bite him in the ass.

CBS Sports writes: "In December, the Yankees announced that former A's slugger Eric Chavez was joining the club as an assistant hitting coach. On Thursday, however, MLB.com reported that Chavez will actually join the other New York team, the Mets, as their hitting coach."

Seems like the Mets want some experience. Why don't the Yankees?

Remember when excellence was a thing Yankee fans? What the hell happened?