Did Juan Soto’s historic signing with the New York Mets end up sending him into a crisis?
In addition to earning the animosity of half the city after leaving the Yankees to move to Queens with the Mets in a historic deal, the media pressure he is under seems to have affected him emotionally and his performance has been disappointing with the Mets
Speculation about whether it was a good idea to give Soto so much money is being pointed out by analysts and experts and is passing to the fans, who are beginning to question the Dominican, despite his 15-year, $765 million contract.
What will the Mets do if Soto doesn’t work?
When asked who they would choose to form a team between the two highest-paid players in MLB, Rowan Kavner and Deesha Thosar, MLB experts, said they would undoubtedly choose Shohei Ohtani, whose massive contract is 10 years and $700 million
For Rowan Kavner, Ohtani’s deal is one of the best bets in Major League history, as although he has not been able to pitch since August 23, 2023, he is the team’s clutch player and offensive leader with 17 home runs and 31 RBIs, a .302 batting average, a .397 OBP and a 1.040 OPS.
As for Thosar, he agrees with his colleague: “He’s a better hitter than Soto, and the design of his contract allows him more flexibility on the roster and the freedom to sign more superstars without having to take on an exorbitant average annual value that affects decision-making,” he said. If that wasn’t enough, he has started pitching, in addition to improving his hitting, which is a crucial phase in his recovery and makes him doubly dangerous
Even if Ohtani is unable to pitch this season, he will still be a great hitter, while Soto has struggled in his presentation with the Mets: he hit only eight home runs with 21 RBIs, while his batting average is a modest .236 and an OPS of .787. These are very low numbers for a player with 209 home runs and a lifetime batting average of .282.
“With Soto, although he is four years younger than Ohtani, his long-term role with the Mets will likely be as a designated hitter, and that could happen sooner rather than later if his defense becomes a real problem,” Thosar added
In addition, the Mets have an obvious problem with Soto’s defensive ability, to the point that there is even speculation that they could turn him into a designated hitter instead of an outfielder to limit his defensive shortcomings.
However, the Mets are letting themselves down, as they thought of the Dominican as the key piece to win the World Series again and now there are serious doubts about what he can actually bring to the team
In his last nine games, Soto is hitting just .156, even though he has the talent of a fantastic hitter. But he is also mired in a crisis of confidence as his body language and characteristic posture, the ‘Soto Shuffle’, are not showing up at the moment and this has affected even his rhythm and batting mechanics.
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