New York Mets superstar Juan Soto is off to a subpar start with his new team. In 2024, Soto was hitting .324 with the Yankees, and had a .500 slugging percentage and .947 OPS to boot. Soto hasn't had the same success with the Mets thus far, hitting just .231 with a .798 OPS.
Now, it doesn't take the New York media long to catch on to negative trends. Soto deserves better than this, having just committed to playing in Queens for the next 15 years. He will be paid handsomely for that commitment, Soto will make $765 million over the next decade-plus. That is a lot of money to put up with the worst the New York media has to offer. Enter WFAN, and Sal Licata.
.@sal_licata WENT OFF on Juan Soto after his 0-for-5 performance yesterday 😳 pic.twitter.com/Z5sGOnzOY7
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) April 17, 2025
Now, do I think Licata actually believes the take he spewed on air about Soto? Not so much, as WFAN is a content factory which plays to the extremes. Sports radio isn't in the best place, unfortunately, and that leads to takes such as Licata's going viral. Someone has to pay the bills, no?
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Juan Soto learns the hard way what happens when you sign a long-term deal in New York
To be fair to WFAN, Soto did sign up for this. He played a full season in New York and surely looked around every now and then. The local media is ruthless, clinging to anything negative and spinning it to their benefit.
There were plenty of positives for the Yankees last season with Soto and Aaron Judge leading the way. Yet, what do you think they clung to once the season ended? Even now, New York baseball fans are fascinated by what's left of Soto's relationship with Judge. It even offered up an excuse for his poor play so far.
“It’s definitely different,” Soto told the New York Post about the way he's been pitched so far with his new team. “I had the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me. I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that. I was pitched differently last year.”
The hard truth is Soto will be the brunt of this sort of attack as long as sports media works as a viable business model. Last time I checked, I am still employed. Playing for the Mets is also a far bigger challenge than hitting in front of Judge on the Yankees. The Mets made the NLCS last season, but don't offer the same caché and history as their Bronx neighbors. That matters in the sports radio landscape.