Protesting too much.

"I love building a team,” Suzyn said. “They’re not done. I was told by three different people that they’re not done.

“I love this. This is my favorite thing, which is building a team and not just spending money on a couple people and going that way. They are not done, I am told. We will see what happens.”

This is known as "buying" a team.

“They better get a third baseman here,” Suzyn said. “If you’re gonna spend this money on Max Fried, then you better have a real third baseman standing there, because that’s what he does. That’s where the balls go.

“They gotta do something at third base. Someone has to be standing over there who knows what they’re doing.”

No offense to Chisolm.

I know everyone likes to play accountant, but nothing was stopping the Yankees from signing both Soto and Fried and then trading for Williams and Bellinger.

The limitations of the luxury tax are made up.

There is also no reason to throw shade at the Mets (along with Jazz Chisolm?) for, you know, spending a lot of money on a great player.

Because I guess that means the Mets aren't building a team. They're just taking shortcuts and buying a team.

The Yankees, by contrast, surely aren't top heavy. Not with Bellinger, Stanton, Judge, Cole, Fried, Rodon, and Stroman. 

Even washed-up LeMahieu will be making $15 million in 2025.

Which isn't a lot compared to Soto, but it's not exactly budget-conscious/spread-the-wealth/bottom-up/team-building behavior.

 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I can't say for certain that Sal Licata was hassling Clay Holmes last season. I'd have to look it up.

Since I was the sole defender of Holmes in the entire Milky Way, I think this is an example of a man who believes, as did Emerson, that consistency is the hobgoglin of little minds:

“[Clay] Holmes was an All-Star last year,” Sal said. “Bullpens are fickle. How did Williams do in the postseason? I’ve seen this before with these relievers. They can be untouchable for one or two years, and then all of a sudden they get touched up.

“Holmes was a two-time All-Star with the Yankees…to me, that’s still a wash. Luke Weaver all of a sudden can’t get hit?”

...

“I don’t think that they did [get better],” Sal said. “I think it’s pretty much even.”

I actually agree with his conclusion.

The Yankees lost a good bullpen pitcher and added a slightly better bullpen pitcher.

Williams might pay off in the clutch. Or he might not. I wouldn't dare predict future playoff meltdowns because of one big-time meltdown vs. the Mets.

In the regular season, I expect Williams to be elite, and I expect one or two more wins due to an elite closer instead of a pretty good closer.

For the millionth time, it also depends of the defense, starting rotation, and offense.

If the defense improves around him ... and I have high hopes that it will ... then he won't have nearly as many blown saves where he doesn't allow an earned run. 

So if I agree with Sal, then what's the gripe?

The gripe is that Public Enemy #1 Clay Holmes is quickly being re-imagined as a reliable All Star as soon as he puts on the Met uniform instead of the Yankee uniform.

It's the intellect of a toddler blaming its sibling for breaking the lamp.

Everything the Mets do is good and everything the Yankees do is bad.

"People keep saying, well, yeah, but Soto will be a DH in a few years.

David Ortiz was a DH.

How’d that work out for the Red Sox?"

Right.

Lots of people in baseball history have been DHs and many of them have won World Series.

Got it.

But that doesn't explain something peculiar about this paragraph. 

According to Lupica, "people keep saying" something that no one is saying.

I searched for "Juan Soto" + "designated hitter" in an AI search engine and I could not find any recent articles.

Other than Bill Madden.

In the Daily News.

On the same page.

Many people have pointed out the obvious fact that a 15-year contract is risky at the back end. Some observers have focused on the obvious fact that Soto is not a true five-tool player.

I am unaware of any group of "people" that have criticized the signing, diminished Soto's "generational" talent as an offensive player, or given one damn that he may or may not DH. 

Make room for Soto.

Lupica is once again inventing a non-existent counter argument so he can land a very mediocre zinger.

"David Ortiz."

Ouch!

"You know what we call the pitch that Devin Williams, the new Yankee closer, threw to Pete Alonso in the playoffs?

An Aroldis Chapman."

Hilarious.

No one calls it that, but I understand the reference.

How does Lupica reconcile this Chapman dig with Chapman's signing with the Red Sox? It must be a devastating war inside of Lupica's head.

It's also, like ... Devin Williams is a low-cost/low-risk pretty good closer. 

A one-year contract for a closer who has been dominant in the regular season and, in the playoffs, blew a save, just like every other closer in the 2024 playoffs.

Lupica is mocking people who are claiming Williams is going to jettison the Yankees to a championship. But no one is saying this.

A win for Scott Boras.

The luxury suite, huh?

Either the Yankees charge a heckuva lot for luxury suites or $760 million doesn't go as far as it used to. After taxes, who knows how much is left? Maybe a few thousand bucks. Soto's family would have had to sit in the bleachers.

Is this really that complicated?

Soto is a grown man who decided he preferred to play for the Mets. He would have been paid plenty by the Mets, the Yankees, or any team that signed him.

That is what free agency is.

As for the luxury suites, I'm reminded of the time the Mets supposedly refused to capitulate to ARod's demands because the Mets were insistent on avoiding a "24 and 1" situation.

So silly.

So many people straining their necks to focus on the pebbles and acting like there is more to the story than the $765 million asteroid.

While Lupica et al like to rip ARod for winning "only" one championship, it's one more than the Cohesive Clubhouse in Queens has won in the same time period.

My only objection to the Yankees signing Alonso is that it will embolden the lunatics who have been predicting this exact thing for the past year.

Ralph from Jersey called WFAN in April and said the Yankees will sign Alonso and the Mets will sign Soto. Ralph from Jersey will tell everyone he knows about this for the rest of his life.

What Ralph from Jersey leaves out is that he also thought the Yankees should skip Gerrit Cole and sign Madison Bumgarner and Matt Harvey.

Ralph from Jersey also said that the Yankees were going to fire Boone and hire Wally Backman as their manager.

Ralph from Jersey also said Greg Bird was a future AL MVP. Bird reminded Ralph from Jersey of John Olerud and Shawn Green.

We're talking about Michael King.

"This wasn't just the Mets beating the Yankees for a cornerstone player for the first time ever (the Yanks' half-hearted pursuit of Carlos Beltran before the 2005 season was not like this)."

If you're going to hype Michael King, might I remind you of Dellin Betances?  

 

"It was the Mets doing so with the Yanks fresh off their first World Series appearance in 15 years, which was only possible because of the presence of Soto, who had formed one of the most dynamic 1-2 lineup punches in baseball history with the otherworldly Aaron Judge.

And it was the Mets doing so just over a year after the Yankees traded an absolute haul to the San Diego Padres -- including potential future ace Michael King -- in order to get one year of Soto and what they likely hoped would be an inside track to signing him long-term."

I know Mets fans are giddy right now, but why be dumb about it?

I like King, I really do. I like Clay Holmes, too, for that matter.

The Yankees did not trade an "absolute haul" for Soto. The Yankees took a risk, but it wasn't an unkown risk.

 

"To put it more succinctly, there was a very easy argument to be made that the Mets had the better future than the Yanks.

...

Soto saw the money, yes. But he also saw what the Mets are building. Soto chose the Mets' future over the Yankees' past. And in the process, baseball in New York has been forever changed."

Maybe so, maybe not. I see no down side for the Mets. I also think the Yankee brand is quite enduring and strong, so let's not put Yankee Stadium in mothballs just yet.

 

"Worth."

Of course Soto is worth it.

It's partially his value on the field, which is immense, but also it's his hype factor. The Ruth & Gehrig/Mantle & Maris evocation.

No one is marketing Judge & Bregman to the out-of-town tourists.

Boomer knows this to be true. No need to bring up silly three-players-for-one combined WAR analyses.

Everything that happens is an example of a thing happening.

The Mets can change the "other team in town" narrative ... hadn't you heard about this by now? ... if they sign Soto, thereby beating the Yankees in a bidding war and also removing Soto from the Yankees' roster, and also by winning the World Series sooner than the Yankees.

"Change the narrative" is Lupica's three-word summary of a very simple and obvious idea.

So how does Lupica get there?

1. The Yankees need Soto more than the Mets need Soto because it's a "well-established baseball fact" that the Mets are better than the Yankees.

1a. Soto had a lot to do with Judge's 58-HR MVP season.

1b. Soto is younger than Judge.

1c. Soto is younger than Ohtani.

1d. Soto is older than Witt, but not much older.

2. Mike Piazza and Kevin Durant.

3. Soto does not guarantee either team a Championship.

3a. The aforementioned Piazza never won a Championship with the Mets (I added that).

3b. Alex Rodriguez only won one Championship with the Yankees.

3c. The Padres won more games in 2024 without Soto than they won in 2023 with Soto. (This is a Lupica favorite, but it seems like very ordinary professional baseball behavior to me.) 

3d. Jason Giambi, for some reason.

3e. Kevin Durant once again.

4. Soto is really good and young.

4a. Alex Rodriguez signed a big contract.

4b. Ohtani signed a big contract.

5. Good players would likely help the Mets win, but maybe not, and it is even better if the player used to be a Yankee.

 

Juan Soto will make his decision soon!

"Before this year's winter meetings, Boras already has locked in deals for Snell and fellow starting pitchers Yusei Kikuchi, Frankie Montas and Matthew Boyd. 

Soto, who at 26 is already one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, could follow shortly."

Baseball history, huh?

I think he's on track for the HOF, and I have thought that for a while.

But a person still has to do a thing before they are credited with doing that thing.

What? No painting of the Ford Edge commercial?

 "Are you sure you're not a shortstop?"

There is no backup plan.

If Soto signs elsewhere, the Yankees are selling the franchise to Mike Lupica.

As with all of these analyses, I don't think the Yankees should say "or." It should always be "and."

Sign Soto AND Alonso for starters. Also, sign Adames AND that Japanese pitcher.

Also, the soft salary cap is stupid and it isn't working.

Also, did the threshold increase to account for inflation?

The Dodgers crushed the Mets in the NLCS.

Outscored the Mets 46-26. 

Won four games to two.

The Mets (and Lupica, by extension) take a silly amount of pride in winning a Game Five bullpen game so the Dodgers couldn't celebrate at Citi Field.

This particular phenomenon might be the silliest thing in the ultra silly world of professional sports.

"It's our house" and such.

Who cares where you lose or even how you lose?

Even though Lupica is bizarrely giving the Mets A LOT of credit for NOT making the World Series, it's simply asinine to act like the Mets played better in the NLCS than the Yankees did in the World Series.

The Yankees evenly matched the Dodgers and the games were close.

No, it doesn't actually matter. "Almost winning" is the same thing as losing.

But if you're going to evaluate the quality of the performances, and you conclude that the Mets outplayed the Yankees, then you're just being ignorant.

 

I'm also not sure why anyone would bother. 

Do the Mets get a parade down the Canyon of Heroes for winning two games in a seven-game series?

Knock yourselves out.

Get Mookie and Buck and Dwight and Darryl on Opening Day to raise the banner. Lupica could go through his rolodex and relive the good ol' days.

 

For what it's worth? At no moment after losing Game Two did I think the Yankees could come back and win the World Series.

If Judge had caught the easy fly ball and if Cole had covered first base, the Dodgers had their best pitchers set up for Games Six and Seven. Winning is always preferable to losing, but the ending was pretty much already written before the fifth inning of Game Five.

So when I say the games in the World Series were close, I'm simply stating a fact. I'm only comparing their respective efforts to the Mets because Lupica is petty enough to do that.

It's not a useful way to evaluate anything.

I mean, the Padres took a 2-1 lead against the Dodgers in the ALDS, didn't they?

So in Lupica Land, the Padres must be the World Champions right now.

So much more. So very much more. The most more that any team has ever needed in the off season, and that's if they sign Soto.

The Yankees haven't even won the World Series since 2009.

Mookie Wilson; Jonathan Papelbon; Buck Showalter; and Alex Rodriguez took PEDs.

No, he didn't say all that.

I'm reminded when Lupica said the Mets needed deGrom. Then, when deGrom signed with the Rangers, Lupica switched and said that the Mets needed the payroll flexibility.

None of this is ever an actual baseball discussion. It's just the Yankees are always stupid and the Mets are always smart ... and, of course, the Mets are about to take over the attention of baseball fans in the New York metropolitan area.

Like in 1986.

I don't even know who Michael Kopech is, but he indirectly declared war on Suzyn Waldman.

The entire idea that Rizzo is a clubhouse leader and a particular genius at the timing and messaging of something as pointless as mound visits.

What is Rizzo talking about?

I often find myself wondering the same thing, Mr. Kopech.

That's not what key means.

Dominguez is not an afterthought. He is supposedly a star of the future with potential. At this stage of his career, his is easily replaceable.

The other three players listed are afterthoughts.

Winning is fun.

Soto is a grown man who will make his decision for himself. The psychoanlysis is tedious:

“There is a rigid, robotic-like, buttoned-up feel to the Yankees...there’s something to that type of environment versus the looser, maybe more fun type of environment that the Mets have. Maybe Juan Soto likes that as well.”

The Mets may be more fun than the Yankees.

I've heard his excuse many times when the Yankees are playing poorly.

The Mets are certainly in the running for Soto. They can afford him while many teams can't.

I wouldn't expect Soto to sign for a discount just because the Mets play super-competitive canasta games in the locker room and his teammates are allowed to grow lengthy sideburns.

I can imagine Cashman at the negotiating table, offering the perks that have infiltrated corporate America: "Final offer: Fifteen years, $750 million ... and a free Galaga machine in the locker room."

It's also an ironic observation, because which is it, Sal?

The Yankees are uptight? Or the Yankees lost the World Series because they lack fundamentals and need to tighten up?

Sports talk radio is mostly a grift.

A MLB team just won 94 games and made the World Series. The negative reaction wouldn't change even if the Yankees had won the World Series.

Because the answer is always to trade everyone or break down the team and start from scratch.

I mean ... is it even fun to concoct these scenarios and put them out on the air just to get a reaction?

Even after Stanton's performance in the playoffs, he isn't worth much. He's a fragile one-trick pony. I wouldn't even be hesitant to trade him to an AL East rival.

So trade Giancarlo Stanton.

Trade Giancarlo Stanton to the Padres.

The Yankees will still have to pay 80% of his salary and, in return, the Yankees will get ... let's see ... ummm ... two minor league bullpen pitchers.

"Rebuilding the team" is a surefire key to success.