Keith tuned in for the entirety of Juan Soto’s introductory press conference on Tuesday, and he didn’t take much from the “while I’m here” comments that had many wondering if he was already looking ahead to bolting in free agency next offseason.
“He played it very well. I think Scott Boras was definitely in his ear,” Keith said. “Think about your own life. Are you going to take a look at an apartment and say ‘Yeah, I’m gonna live here the rest of my life’ before spending a night there? No. The next contract he signs, that’s it.”
Others wondered why Soto didn’t get an all-out, in-person press conference to announce his acquisition given his star power, but Keith believes there are perfectly reasonable explanations for why it was done virtually.
“Some were wondering, myself included, why there wasn’t the Juan Soto press conference like there was with Aaron Judge last year…and Carlos Rodon, Gerrit Cole, back to Masahiro Tanaka, and especially Giancarlo Stanton, who was traded for,” Keith said. “Juan Soto was in Miami the night before watching the Dolphins…he lives in Miami. I don’t think there’s any reason for him to fly up here, especially when the Yankees were in California meeting with Yoshinobu Yamamoto yesterday.
“The Zoom was perfectly fine. There’s no reason to roll out the red carpet…and unveil the No. 22 for a player who could be here today and gone tomorrow.”