Subway Series: Yankees fans are allowed to boo Juan Soto this weekend, but do it for the right reasons

Juan Soto was uninvested. Juan Soto was just passing through. Juan Soto used 2024 simply as a turnstile to free agency, marking time on the calendar until his inevitable offseason payday. Juan Soto didn’t build any real relationships in the Yankees clubhouse. Aaron Judge didn’t do enough recruiting.

The narratives surrounding Soto started in an endless stream from the moment the outfielder signed his record 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets last December.

The overwhelming majority of that stream comprised nonsense.

Whether it be on the talk shows or via the written word, much of it came from those who couldn’t find the Yankees clubhouse armed with spelunking equipment and their iPhone. Let alone making the effort to, on or off the record, talk to a player and/or coach or, really, anyone.

Though it generally runs contrary to the current hot-take, no-nuance clickbait media climate that often rewards speculation rather than information, multiple things can be simultaneously true.

Start here: Soto was a fully invested Yankee who bonded with plenty of teammates in his year in the Bronx (more on that later).

At the same time: Soto could not have had the stars align for him better. After a terrific 2024, both New York teams wanted him badly, with one of those teams, the Mets, having Steve Cohen, the richest owner in baseball by a country mile, making the acquisition of Soto a must-have.

Leading to this reality: Cohen simply wasn’t going to get outbid.

Hal Steinbrenner tapped out of the Soto sweepstakes – much to the relief, by the way, of the rest of his organization – at $760 million over 16 years. But had Steinbrenner gone to $775 million, Cohen was going to $785. If Steinbrenner went to $790 million, hello $800. And so on.

Talk of family and culture and luxury suites and over-officious Yankee Stadium security – the latter a spurious charge at best where those spreading that story couldn’t even come up with a consistent description of whom the supposed offending party was – all made for nice sidebars to a historic contract. But, as these things are about 100% of the time, cash is king.

Soto will be, to borrow from the great Nev Chandler – the radio voice of the Cleveland Browns from 1985-93 and the uncle of NBC New York sports anchor John Chandler – serenaded with a “chorus in Boo Flat” all weekend at Yankee Stadium. And, likely, the Jose Altuve treatment, too (Google that one).

All well and good. And if it’s because Yankee fans are angry that, for one of the rare times since the onset of free agency in the mid-1970’s, their favorite team lost out on a free agent it targeted, fine. Worse yet, to the Mets of all teams. Boo away.

Just be angry for the right reasons.

Not because Soto did what nearly anyone in any industry, if they’re being honest with themselves, would do if given the opportunity to be the subject of a bidding war: go to the highest bidder.

And not because Soto was some kind of distant presence with the Yankees.

“He was great with us,” Judge told Newsday earlier in the week. “I know he was very influential on [Oswaldo] Cabrera. Cabrera would sit there and watch every single one of his cage routines and sessions and pick his brain. I would pick his brain on certain things.”

Judge added: “I would give him some stuff (relating to hitting), he would give me stuff, and we would kind of feed off each other that way, which I think was very beneficial. He was a big part of this clubhouse.”

Though much was made of Judge not actively recruiting Soto – plenty of that pushed by some former big-leaguers in the talk-o-sphere who should know better – the latter knew exactly how the former felt about him.

Judge left Soto alone not because Soto changed phone numbers but because the two-time AL MVP remembered how many people he wanted to hear from during his own free agency. Hint: very few.

“Ultimately, I’ve been in his shoes,” Judge said. “I know what type of pressure that is and kind of the unknown that you’re thrown into.”

Judge laughed at the significance attached by some to Soto changing numbers.

“I’ve changed my number multiple times,” Judge said. “It’s part of it.”

The bottom line, Judge said, was simple.

“Everybody in here enjoyed him, loved him,” the Yankees captain said. “He was a brother in the short amount of time he was here, and I think as much as we miss not having him here, I think we’re all excited for the deal he signed for him and his family.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.