New York Yankees fans did not have a pleasant Sunday after news broke that Juan Soto was leaving in free agency for the team’s crosstown rivals.
Soto signed a monstrous deal with the New York Mets for more guaranteed money than any professional athlete in history.
Yankees fans were all-in on Soto during his MVP-caliber 2024 campaign in pinstripes. But once Soto’s decision to join the Mets went public, several Yankees supporters used the same word to describe their team’s former star player: sellout.
We offered him 760 mil and he still didn’t take it. Hal did his best but Soto chose to be a sellout
— Jaden Gaines (@JSG3_) December 9, 2024
Juan soto is a sellout
— F.G. (@frankgarbs) December 9, 2024
congratulations juan soto, sellout of the century. 15 years later you still are only gonna have 1 rings
— jayden daniels cultist (@overreactor70) December 9, 2024
Juan Soto is a sellout. Actually crazy. Didn’t care one bit about anything other than money. If that’s how he wants to live his life then that’s on him. It is what it is
— James Despo (@jdespo08) December 9, 2024
Yankees fans turning on Soto right away is hardly surprising. It’s one thing for your top free agent to sign with a new team in free agency. It’s another when he chooses to stay in the same city but decides to play with one of your biggest rivals.
It will be hard for Yankees fans to avoid the Soto billboards and marquees that are sure to be seen around the city once the Mets push their marketing campaigns ahead of next season.
The Mets and Yankees were reportedly both among the five finalists in the Soto sweepstakes.
The Mets are coming off one of their most exciting campaigns in recent memory. The team shook off a rocky start to the season to finish 89-73. The Mets made the playoffs and took the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to six games in the NLCS.
Soto adds one of MLB’s most lethal bats to the Mets’ lineup. In his lone season with the Yankees, Soto hit .288 with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, and had an OPS of .989. Soto finished third in AL MVP voting, while Francisco Lindor finished second in NL MVP voting behind the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani.
Having Soto likely hitting behind fellow MVP candidate Lindor will be a dream come true for Mets fans once the 2025 season begins. On the other hand, it will be an absolute nightmare that Yankees fans won’t be able to wake up from.
