MLB analyst AJ Pierzynski finds a strange way to question the Mets’ signing of Juan Soto

Juan Soto will receive a huge, unprecedented sum to play baseball for the New York Mets until 2039.

A tumultuous free agency period ended, wouldn’t you know it, with the coveted player moving to the team that offered the money. Soto is an incredible player with a winning pedigree, and his ability to get on base has a good chance of remaining a razor-sharp tool until Soto is 40 or older. Most people in baseball who have no allegiance to one of Soto’s unsuccessful suitors generally seem happy for him, but also point out that such a groundbreaking deal, both in size and scope, will become a nuisance down the road could.

There is also another argument regarding Soto’s actual value to the Mets. Sure, he should help them win baseball games. But how much will he actually move the needle and line his pockets to offset such an investment? Soto is one of the best players in baseball, but he’s not Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge or Elly De La Cruz or anyone else with a more dynamic skill set.

AJ Pierzynski commented on this on Foul territoryHe spoke about his own lack of experience with tuning in to anything just to see Soto, and probably spoke for a whole host of casual baseball players and die-hard fans.

“I’ve never turned on a game to see Juan Soto,” Pierzynski said. “I tuned in to a game to watch Shohei, I tuned in to a game where Aaron Judge got into a big situation.”

When asked who else he might bring in at guard, Pierzynski listed some of the following names: Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The former White Sox catcher made it clear that he thinks Soto is a spectacular player and that it’s a matter of personal preference. He concluded with some comments about all the walking and how it’s celebrated in today’s baseball that wasn’t particularly relevant.

Reasonable minds may disagree, but that doesn’t really seem like an indictment, a jab, or anything all that negative. Despite all the great things Soto has to offer, being a top-3 or even top-5 player isn’t part of the collective baseball consciousness. Many great thinkers will tell you that a decade and a half in New York will change all that.

Soto will be judged by how much he wins, not by how many people stop what they’re doing to watch one of his shots in May. The Mets, the Networks and Major League Baseball will all be focused on what happens next October and the October 14th after that. They all want him to be someone who doesn’t have to be attuned to. They all want him to be someone you can’t ignore.