Well, Juan Soto is now a NY Met, and has received the highest contract in sports history. If every option is triggered over the life of the 15-year contract, the total value is $805MM. So here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

  • The mind reels at the sheer amount of money in play. It's probably useless to mention here what that kind of money might mean in terms of how it could improve the lives of so many others rather than be concentrated in one person's hands. Soto will probably set up some sort of charitable organizations to make a show of spreading the wealth, but that amount of money will be chicken feed compared to what he will retain.
  • While I can honestly say I wanted him to remain a Yankee, it is hard to justify that desire against the cost. Sports for me is being ruined by the sheer amount of money, and the imbalance we now see in terms of what people's values are. Playing baseball and acting in action-adventure movies is at present considered of far more value to society than teaching children in public schools or alleviating homelessness.
  • The Yankees will not recover from this blow anytime soon. Their only valuable hitter left is Aaron Judge, and at least for the coming 2025 season he will be unprotected in the lineup. Unless Giancarlo Stanton miraculously has the season of a lifetime, every team in the league will simply pitch around Judge. Without lineup protection he will get nothing to hit.
  • The Yankee brand is also dead. The storied history of the Yankees was not enough to convince Soto to stay. The Yankee offer was $5MM less and one year more (not counting the opt-out escalators), and the potential of being one of the greatest Yankees of all time, matched with Aaron Judge the way Ruth/Gehrig and Mantle/Maris were paired, was not enticing enough.
  • The Yankees have little choice but to burn it all down and start all over again. Fire Cashman and everyone he hired, Boone, all the coaches, and start from scratch. Hal should really sell the team, because he does not have an interest in winning. He inherited the team under duress, and I think he'd do anything to get out from under at this point. Steve Cohen bought the Mets because he wants to win, and he's willing to do what it takes to win.
  • It's also now pretty clear that the NY Yankees are not considered a desirable location anymore for MLB players. Their culture is button-down, out of touch, and tainted with a subtle racism both within the organization and the fan base. The GM is inept, the manager is a clown, the owner is practically absentee, the organization is riddled with stat geeks rather than solid baseball people, and the current roster is riddled with holes across the diamond. Who would possibly want to play here? The Soto non-signing has revealed that the emperor has no clothes.
  • I don't blame Soto for any of this. He's only asking what the market is willing to deliver. He wants the bag, and he got it. Everyone is a loser in this game except him. And in a larger sense, even he's a loser, as he comes off looking like nothing but a mercenary.

And that's that. The Yankee 2025 season and beyond is probably not worth watching. The sad and embarrassing loss in the World Series, combined with the loss of a generational player, may be too much for this guy to continue being an interested fan.