Is Juan Soto the Most Recent Representation of a One-Hit Wonder? - But don’t you need a “hit” for that?
By Greg Evans
Batting .137 (7-51) over the past 15 games with 15 strikeouts, the $900 million man seems to have duped everybody. A once potential star on the hallowed New York Yankees, the traitor threw in his pinstripes for the prison cinder block gray, bubble yum orange, and chemically synthetic blue of the cross-town, subway rival New York Mets.
The front office of the Mets pretty much solidified their place in sports history as the biggest bunch of Charlie’s to ever pen a bad deal. They were caught up in a fad. Juan Soto marketed himself like Marilyn Monroe with nothing under the dress. The Met’s executives were drooling over the “next Michael Jordan” of baseball. It was completely ambiguous. It was a glittering, golden, gem-encrusted parachute with no wind to hold it up. It is the greatest scam of all time because Soto isn’t that good. He’s barely average with a career batting average of .281, ‘eh.
Nowhere that I can find did he show the prowess to be entitled to a $765 million contract with a sign-on bonus of $75 million, a personal suite at Citi field and personal security for him and his family and possibly access to a private jet whenever he or his family wants. Not to mention the 40 seats behind home plate, but that’s just a rumor.
Has there ever been such a dramatic financial gaffe accomplished since Jesse Livermore lost over, the equivalent of, a billion dollars in today’s money, of his own personal investment nest egg in the stock market in less than three years?
As a Yankee fan, Soto will always be somewhat of the Benedict Arnold of baseball. Regardless of what team you root for you will agree he committed the ultimate treason in sports history, not just baseball. Deion Sanders, Brett Farve, and Bill Sharman are others who treaded similar waters, but not even in the same ballpark as Soto. He had potential to have a decent career and be remembered as a quality addition to a legendary team. He already had money, he didn’t need any more. But he made bad decisions and history magnifies bad decisions made by overpaid athletes. Just look at Pete Rose.
Juan Soto will go down in New York history as the most hated former Yankee of all time and maybe the most hated Met for getting so much for producing so little. What does he give to the world for nearly a billion dollars? Resentment? Resentment by the players on the Mets who actually produce. Resentment from the fan base who are average people who work hard and actually produce or help to produce products and services the world can use. These are people probably earning an average of $60,000 or so a year, on the high end. Distain from Yankee fans for being a traitor and all fans of sports because it is simply getting out of control. Was anyone surprised he was vehemently booed during his first return to Yankee stadium. It was uneventful with many noticeable empty seats.
Some might call Juan Soto, a one-hit wonder. There have been many one-hit wonders, in many different fields from Mark Fidrych, Sir-Mix-A-Lot, Buster Douglas, Pergolesi, Norman Greenbaum, The Buggles, Todd Hamilton and Rich Beem, but the difference is they all did something. Juan Soto’s “one-hit” is the contract he signed.
The funny thing is, Soto’s departure opened the door for the Yankees to pick up Bellinger and Goldschmidt, both of whom are killing it on the field. Soto, the player, will never be missed. His treason will never be forgotten.
