Reflecting on Juan Soto with the man who knows him best
Johnny DiPuglia's first impression of Juan Soto wasn't something that suggested he was witnessing a future Hall of Famer, by any means.
"My first impression wasn’t very good because he was a left-handed pitcher," the current Kansas City Royals executive said on the Baseball Isn't Boring Podcast. "But my area scout did a really good job. Our staff did a really good job. They kept on him and they saw him as a hitter. They brought me back and even the first impression as a hitter wasn’t something I was crazy about, but there was something there. We followed up and we got the deal done."
There was enough there that DiPuglia convinced his team at the time - the Washington Nationals - to invest $1.5 million in the then-16-year-old, one-dimensional player.
Needless to say, it worked out.
Nine years later, DiPuglia can reflect on the calculated high-priced gamble he and the Nationals took on Soto with a sense of pride. This is now a player who is on the verge of signing a record free agent deal and continues to be identified as one of the most unique talents Major League Baseball has seen in years.
"I’m proud of him. I wish I got one percent of what he’s going to make in his contract," joked DiPuglia, who worked with the Red Sox prior to becoming the Director of Latin American Operations in 2009. "You feel like a proud daddy. He has represented me well and I have tried to represent him well. He’s a special human being."
But while Soto's on-field acumen isn't difficult to decipher, DiPuglia explained that a big part of what separates the 26-year-old is the person he is off the field and in the clubhouse.
For those teams looking for the biggest block in their foundation, DiPuglia insists this should be their guy.
"If you’re going to start a corporation you’re going to want to have a guy who represents that corporation in a very professional way," he said. "I have always thought of Juan as the Derek Jeter of Latin American players. The way he addresses. The way he conducts himself. The way he speaks English. He’s like a Marine. And if you want to have a high-priced guy to mold your younger players to be like him, he’s the guy you want to represent your organization."
So when did it start becoming clear Soto represented such an impressive presence?
"When he learned English in one year. And then when he started describing breaking balls at 16, how they spin, the rotation, then I knew I had an advanced young man as far as his mindset," DiPuglia said. "Through the years I have never seen a Latin player with that kind of mindset. The only kid who had that type of makeup was probably Bogaerts. He was very advanced. Normally, it’s a copy-cat society. Those kids copy whatever they see on TV, and Juan isn’t like that."
Navigating the road ultimately taken by Soto since those days on the pitcher's mound as a 14-year-old is a testament to the player, but also to those - like DiPuglia - who believed in the player before it was easy to do so.
"It was like buying a classic car without wheels. No engine. No AC. Then all of a sudden it all came together. Wow, that’s a beautiful ’69 Chevelle," DiPuglia quipped. " That’s the way it works out. You have to put the wheels on him, and then the engine and then the AC and then it all equates and then you want to buy that car.
"The wheels started going on him when I started seeing the ball to the opposite field with a little more thump. Then he started pulling it a little more. But his barrel awareness as a hitter was a freaky as anyone I have ever seen. Like (Dustin) Pedroia. You saw the first impression, but then when you saw him hit he barreled baseballs up. That’s what sold me."