Soto a Met

[Bob Alpacadaca]

Guys on the Mets Pod speculating on Marte, saying they think he sticks around as a DH. That keeps him healthier and is a strong bat in that role or even off the bench. They said he is super-tight with Soto and respected overall.



The Siri trade looking better to help Soto with range!

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

If I'm Baty I hold this motherfucker up for millions.

[whippoorwill]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Still need a rotation and a bullpen though, because Soto can't do it all by himself.

Yes

[Edgy MD]

The guy actually chokes up and lowers his stance with two strikes like he's Rusty Staub or something. Keith's heart might explode.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Do we think he'll play left field or right field? He's played pretty much the same number of games at each position.



Who has a better arm? Soto or Nimmo?

[MFS62]

I'm guessing Soto.

Not sure if outfield assists is a measure, but Soto has had 9 or 10 in the past few years while Nimmo has never had more that 4.

In some cases low assists means the guy has such a cannon that nobody runs on him, but I don't see that with Brandon.

Later

[Centerfield]

Soto has a very strong arm. It's about his only good trait as a fielder. So he'll likely stick in RF.



His problem is that he doesn't judge fly balls very well. I wonder if 1B is in his future.

[Benjamin Grimm]

First base or DH, eventually. But probably not until he's on the other side of 30.

[batmagadanleadoff]

This is gonna be some lineup if Alvarez takes the next step forward that many believe he's destined to take.

[Benjamin Grimm]

http://leaptoad.com/mets/cards/JuanSoto1974_Signed.jpg>

[Frayed Knot]

Now all we have to do is

A) hope he stays healthy

hope that his recent (Oct) 26th birthday really IS his age and not just some number he arrived at through Pujolsian math

[metirish]

Oldish video but I love watching it

[MFS62]

ABC-TV at 6 PM Weather Report, " It isn't raining in the Bronx. That is the tears of Y--kee fans".



Later

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: hope that his recent (Oct) 26th birthday really IS his age and not just some number he arrived at through Pujolsian math

What evidence do you have to suggest Soto isn't his listed age?

[Frayed Knot]

None.

But neither did anyone have anything on Pujols until it was recently reported that it's now "widely accepted" in MLB circles that he was up to three years older

than his listed age. I think it's tougher to get away with that kind of thing now but so it was said during Albert's time too.



The point is that when you're agreeing to pay a guy through his age 41 season it would be nice to be sure that you're not really agreeing to pay him through

his age 44 season.

[CitiFieldPornRoom]

Frayed Knot wrote: None. But neither did anyone have anything on Pujols until it was recently reported that it's now "widely accepted" in MLB circles that he was up to three years older than his listed age. I think it's tougher to get away with that kind of thing now but so it was said during Albert's time too. The point is that when you're agreeing to pay a guy through his age 41 season it would be nice to be sure that you're not really agreeing to pay him through his age 44 season.

It's not "widely accepted" with Pujols. There's no evidence, but there is the implication that he's presented documentation for things like becoming a citizen. Is it "widely accepted" that he lied to the US government too? Or that his paycheck lists his age but his official stats age is different? Or is it just that "haha DR is third world!" bias plus a healthy dose of jealousy? A lot of the initial rumors are from coaches when he was young insisting he must be older because he was so good.



Even more insane to imply anything about Soto, who was born in the digital age. Seinfeld was off the air already. McGuire was the HR king. The Diamondbacks already existed.

[Frayed Knot]

I don't remember the source of the article (which may have said "widely believed" rather than widely accepted) but it was from earlier this year and was in connection with Soto's pending FA-gency saying essentially that what the signing team doesn't want to experience is what happened with the Angels and Pujols where it is now widely believe/accepted within the game that Albert was then several years older than his listed age.



There's no hint or allegations I know of that this is the case with Soto (which I already stated) and it would be harder to do in this era (which I also said) but let's also not pretend that it's never happened before: El Duque, Rey Ordonez, Raffy Furcal, Adrian Beltre, others. The Yanx wound up taking legal action of some young foreign players who fudged their ages but only against the ones who turned out to not be as good as the team thought they were going to be because to take no action was to admit that they mis-judged their talent. They let things slide on the good players.



I was merely pointing out, in the wake of overnight news, that what one doesn't want to occur following the long-term signing of the uber-FA is either a succession of injuries which rob the player of what he once was [see Griffey, Ken Jr., the Cincinnati years] or a questionable age discrepancy [Pujols, Albert: the Disney era].

[RealityChuck]

I will say the sour grapes by MFY fans are a wonder to behold.



Funny they didn't object to him last week.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: I don't remember the source of the article (which may have said "widely believed" rather than widely accepted) but it was from earlier this year and was in connection with Soto's pending FA-gency saying essentially that what the signing team doesn't want to experience is what happened with the Angels and Pujols where it is now widely believe/accepted within the game that Albert was then several years older than his listed age. There's no hint or allegations I know of that this is the case with Soto (which I already stated) and it would be harder to do in this era (which I also said) but let's also not pretend that it's never happened before: El Duque, Rey Ordonez, Raffy Furcal, Adrian Beltre, others. The Yanx wound up taking legal action of some young foreign players who fudged their ages but only against the ones who turned out to not be as good as the team thought they were going to be because to take no action was to admit that they mis-judged their talent. They let things slide on the good players. I was merely pointing out, in the wake of overnight news, that what one doesn't want to occur following the long-term signing of the uber-FA is either a succession of injuries which rob the player of what he once was [see Griffey, Ken Jr., the Cincinnati years] or a questionable age discrepancy [Pujols, Albert: the Disney era].

Read a couple of books about the 1981 Dodgers/Fernandomania recently, and they brought up insinuations that Valenzuela was a bit older than he was presented as. So this stuff does go further back.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mets named Juan:



Acevedo

Berenguer

Castillo

Centeno

Lagares

Padilla

Samuel

Uribe



If Soto doesn't become the best of them, things will have gone terribly wrong.

[CitiFieldPornRoom]

Frayed Knot wrote: I don't remember the source of the article (which may have said "widely believed" rather than widely accepted) but it was from earlier this year and was in connection with Soto's pending FA-gency saying essentially that what the signing team doesn't want to experience is what happened with the Angels and Pujols where it is now widely believe/accepted within the game that Albert was then several years older than his listed age. There's no hint or allegations I know of that this is the case with Soto (which I already stated) and it would be harder to do in this era (which I also said) but let's also not pretend that it's never happened before: El Duque, Rey Ordonez, Raffy Furcal, Adrian Beltre, others. The Yanx wound up taking legal action of some young foreign players who fudged their ages but only against the ones who turned out to not be as good as the team thought they were going to be because to take no action was to admit that they mis-judged their talent. They let things slide on the good players. I was merely pointing out, in the wake of overnight news, that what one doesn't want to occur following the long-term signing of the uber-FA is either a succession of injuries which rob the player of what he once was [see Griffey, Ken Jr., the Cincinnati years] or a questionable age discrepancy [Pujols, Albert: the Disney era].

"there's no hint or allegation I know of" then bringing it up is essentially making one. And again, unfounded believes or accusations about Pujols are certainly not precedent. Soto was also born in the capital where presumably records are better kept. Of course, the incentives are there to lie, but if there's fault, it's with the Washington Nationals, not Soto. The way to go with this line of reasoning is all the extremely exploitive and sketchy stuff teams are getting up to. The Nats essentially swooped in and grabbed Soto at 16. So sure, maybe the Nationals are like "pretend you're 16 already we'll make it work" but it seems extremely unlikely especially as there were other teams also looking to sign him. Meaning he was vetted by multiple people and there was probably incentives by the other clubs to find a reason to say he was 15 and nullify the Nats pick.



Speaking of sketchy international drafting and the Mets, enter Roki Sasaki. Whoever signs Sasaki is likely going to reneg on 'commitments' to other international free agents.

[Frayed Knot]

"there's no hint or allegation I know of" then bringing it up is essentially making one.

No. It. Isn't.



My original comments were a bit of gallows humor.

Great that we've got him signed ... so as long as he doesn't break both legs skiing or turn out to be already 30 then things should be great.



So if you want to continue parsing this further, have at it. But I'm done here.

[Benjamin Grimm]

So anyway...



When is the physical? It seems that Cohen has been openly acknowledging the deal, which you typically don't see until the physical has been completed.

[metirish]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: So anyway... When is the physical? It seems that Cohen has been openly acknowledging the deal, which you typically don't see until the physical has been completed.

Today ,per multiple Twitter MLB people

[CitiFieldPornRoom]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: So anyway... When is the physical? It seems that Cohen has been openly acknowledging the deal, which you typically don't see until the physical has been completed.

he's got a habit of bragging and then reneging on his deals, but I don't think there's any real issue here.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Bob Nightengale (USA Today) wrote: The New York Mets have tentatively scheduled a press conference Thursday afternoon at 3 pm at Citi Field to introduce their new $765 million man: Juan Soto.

[G-Fafif]

Heyman reports Juan Soto has passed his physical

[G-Fafif]

[G-Fafif]

Official release:

METS SIGN FOUR-TIME ALL-STAR JUAN SOTO FLUSHING, N.Y., December 11, 2024 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed outfielder Juan Soto to a 15-year major league contract with a club option and contingent player opt-out after the 2029 season. “This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets Owners Steve and Alex Cohen said. “Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree. Our Amazin' fan base is very excited to welcome Juan to Queens. Congratulations, Juan.” “Today's signing further solidifies our organizational commitment to consistent championship competitiveness,” said Mets President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns. “Not only does Juan provide historic levels of on field production, but his joy, intensity, and passion for the game mirror our budding culture. We are thrilled to add him to our team and look forward to watching his excellence for years to come.” Over a seven-year major league career with the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals, Soto has posted a .285/.421/.532 slashline with 655 runs, 179 doubles, 15 triples, 201 home runs, 592 RBI, 57 steals and a 36.4 career bWAR in 936 games. He has won the Silver Slugger Award five times (2020-24), finished in the top 10 in MVP voting five times (2019-21, 2023-24) and won the National League batting title after batting .351 (54-154) in 2020. In addition, the four-time All-Star (2021-24) was the winner of the 2022 Home Run Derby. Since he made his major league debut on May 15, 2018, Soto leads the major leagues in walks (769), times on base (1,719) and on-base percentage (.421), and ranks fourth in OPS (.953), sixth in RBI (592) and seventh in both SLG (.532) and home runs (201). The native of the Dominican Republic has led MLB in free passes three times in his career 2023 - (132), 2022 (135) and 2021 (145). He became the first player to lead the major leagues in three straight seasons since Barry Bonds did so in four straight seasons from 2001-04. Soto has recorded at least 100 walks in five of his six 162-game seasons (2019, 2021-24). He joins Babe Ruth (10), Barry Bonds (10), Ted Williams (eight), Eddie Yost (seven) and Eddie Stanky (four) as one of six players in major league history to record at least 125 walks in four different seasons. In 157 games with the Yankees last season, the outfielder batted .288/.419/.569 with 128 runs, 31 doubles, four triples, 41 home runs, 109 RBI and 129 walks. He ranked second in the majors in OBP (.419), walks (129) and runs (128), third in OPS (.989), fourth in SLG (.569) and home runs (41), sixth in bWAR (7.9), tied for sixth in RBI (109) and ninth in total bases (328). He set career highs in runs, hits (166), home runs, total bases and extra-base hits (76), all while finishing third in AL MVP voting. The left-handed hitter has played 35 games at Citi Field and hit .333 (39-117) with 29 runs, six doubles, one triple, 12 homers, 26 RBI, 28 walks with a .466 OBP, a .709 SLG and a 1.175 OPS. On August 12, 2020, as a member of the Nationals, Soto belted the longest home run of his career at Citi Field, traveling 466 feet. That ranks as the fourth-longest home run at Citi Field in the Statcast era (since 2015). The 26-year-old has appeared in 43 Postseason games and owns a .281/.389/.538 slashline with 31 runs, eight doubles, 11 home runs, 30 RBI, two steals with a .927 OPS. He was a member of the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals, batting .333 (9-27) with six runs, two doubles, three home runs and seven RBI in the Fall Classic. In 2024, Soto played in 14 Postseason games, batting .327 (16-49) with 12 runs, three doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, 14 walks with a 1.101 OPS. Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Nationals on July 2, 2015, Soto made his major league debut with Washington at the age of 19 in 2018. He went on to hit .292/.406/.517 with 25 doubles, one triple, 22 home runs, 70 RBI and a .923 OPS to finish second in the National League Rookie of the Year ballot.

[metirish]

Heyman reports he will wear #22