GET OVER IT

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Do you remember the episode of “Family Guy” where Peter joined the news team for his segment “What Really Grinds My Gears”?  December 8th 2024, 596 days ago that’s a day that has haunted the state of New York Sports. It was the day Juan Soto and the Mets agreed to his 15 year 765 million dollar contract, and there are people who can’t get over it. 

For the first time ever the Mets outbid the Yankees for a player both teams coveted, especially after what Soto did in his one season in the Bronx. Now, Soto’s time in Queens has not been great, the Mets missed the playoffs last season and will miss again this year and that is definitely not the fault of Soto. As a Met has a slash line of .270/.400/.530 with 64 homers and 157 RBI’S. It’s not Soto’s fault the Mets are where they are, that’s on David Stearns, who really needs a good trade deadline. 

Soto, is a generational player, he is one of the faces of the sport, but yet people on Social Media or the media as a whole want to talk about if he made a mistake leaving the Bronx for Queens. So this is what “Grinds My Gears” Soto obviously was sold on whatever the vision Steve Cohen and Stearns have mapped out. And let’s be honest most of what has happened has not worked out in the Mets favor, but 600 days later we’re still talking about if it was a mistake? I know The Yankees have their shills in the media and Yankee fans are not used to losing out on free agents, but people need to get over this. Michael Kay on his program Monday claimed Soto has “wasted two prime years” The guy will be 28 years old in October, so he is just entering his prime. 

This notion that leaving the Bronx for Queens being a mistake needs to be looked at like this, the media and Yankee fans are not used to losing out on star players, especially to the Mets. And while the Mets are the biggest disappointment in the sport, the Yankee fan feels it’s cool to flex their muscle at being better than the Mets. But at the end of the day Juan Soto is the King Of Queens.