Aaron Boone agrees: Juan Soto has been a 'true Yankee' since Day 1
“Whatever he gets, he’s underpaid.”
“Pay my guy! Pay Juan Soto! Seven hundred million!”
The former was a Tweet from Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo just after Juan Soto hit the pennant-clinching home run Saturday night, and the latter was uttered by Jazz Chisholm in the champagne celebration after the win.
And both are, of course, about Juan Soto, who just might be in line to approach, if not surpass, Shohei Ohtani money this offseason. Given that he turned down 15 years and $440 million from the Nationals in 2022 just before they dealt him to San Diego, it’s not hard to think that the soon-to-be 26-year old might not get 15 years, but will get much more than the $29.3 million AAV from that deal.
Clearly, all of the Yankees would love to see that happen in the Bronx.
“Incredible, and just such an ability to seize the moment. Every big moment that he finds himself in the middle, he delivered over and over and over again for us,” manager Aaron Boone said of Soto after Game 5. “Obviously he put up an amazing season statistically speaking, but in the biggest moments, that's what he does, and it shouldn't be taken for granted. It's not surprising either that he does it. It’s like that's who he is. He's so good at seizing the moment.”
That “clutch” gene is part of what made Derek Jeter so revered, and even if Soto isn’t a homegrown Yankee, just remember that Aaron Judge is and didn’t debut until he was 24, so age ain’t nothing but a number and longevity is just as good no matter how it comes.
And it that home run – ‘just an at-bat for the ages,’ as Boone said – wasn’t Soto’s signature moment as a Yankee, well, it’s because it’s just the latest in a series of them.
“You know what, I thought pretty early on in Spring Training, he did a great job of assimilating and making it a point to be part of the team and one of the guys,” Boone said of Soto becoming an ‘inner-circle’ Yankee. “It felt very easy. It's not always the easiest thing when you bring a superstar player in; you don't know what it’s going to be like, but it matters to him to be a good teammate, and that's a credit to who he is. Obviously, he's an amazing player, but he's a really good teammate, too. He's one of those guys.”
Just one of those guys, who, it seems, wants to be the greatest of all-time, and works just as hard on that as he does anything else in the clubhouse.
“It’s just how much he cares about his craft. He loves the game of baseball. That's usually a common trait for great players. Not everyone loves it like Juan Soto does, or like a lot of our guys do,” Boone said. “He loves the preparation, the physical preparation it takes in the winter, and the skill development. We know him as this great hitter, but he takes pride in his defense and running the bases and being a complete player, and he invests in that, and he's just been a great teammate, too.”
Even the heaviest of doubters have to think there’s a better chance than not Boone is back next year for his 2025 option, and hopefully, Soto is too, and he learned a bit about being a great teammate this year, surely, from another of the greatest players on the planet: Aaron Judge, who moved to center field in deference to the lesser defender in Soto, who ended up a Gold Glove finalist while Judge was one of the three worst-rated defenders among qualified center fielders by OAA and DRS.
Just like when the Yankees acquired Giancarlo Stanton: bring in the piece, and let the rest sort itself out.
“He's just easy to be around. You bring a superstar player in, how is he going to look, what's he going to be like?” Boone said. “He's just one of the guys, and that's been rewarding to see, man; I don't have to go out of my way to worry about him. He's good. I feel like I've developed a great relationship with him, but he's one of the guys.”
