New York sports radio host debuts the worst Juan Soto take of all-time

SNY's and WFAN's Sal Licata has had his fair share of brutal takes over the years. From claiming that the NL East is over in May of the 2022 season before the Mets blew their lead to the Braves, to saying that the Mets should trade Pete Alonso so Brandon Nimmo could become their undisputed leader, he's had some miserable takes.

Still, with that being said, this latest one takes the cake. He could not have come up with a worse Juan Soto take if he tried.

Licata, for whatever reason, is getting on Soto, a player who has been an instrumental addition for the New York Yankees in the first couple of weeks of the 2024 season, for "looking for walks." Yes, he's upset at Juan Soto because he drew a walk.

This Juan Soto take couldn't be any worse

It's safe to assume Licata is referring to Soto's at-bat in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 5-2 loss against the Marlins. Soto came up with a couple of runners on base as the tying run against Marlins closer Tanner Scott and drew a walk. No, he didn't tie the game, but he also didn't have much of a chance to given the fact that he drew a walk. It's hard to see what Licata is upset about here.

He's complaining that Soto didn't chase pitches and get himself out. The reason pitches outside of the strike zone are called balls is because it's really hard to make contact and put the ball in play when it's not within a certain zone. Licata wants Soto to expand the zone and try to hit a crazy home run rather than just take the walk. It's utter nonsense.

Soto got one pitch to hit in the entire at-bat, it was the second pitch. Yes, there was a lot of plate, but it was also a slider. If Soto wasn't looking for an off-speed pitch, it'd be counterproductive for him to put up some off-balance swing. The rest of the pitches were not ones to hit. Four of the other five were out of the strike zone, and the other strike was a perfectly placed slider that Soto, at the absolute best case scenario, would've slapped into left field for a single.

What makes this take even worse is that Aaron Judge was standing on deck. Had Soto chased a pitch and gotten himself out, all everyone would've been saying is "he's trying to do too much." Instead, Soto made the right baseball play by taking his walk and letting his co-superstar come up with the game on the line. Had Judge come through, nobody would've said a word about Soto. Unfortunately, Judge did fly out to end the game.

Licata voicing frustration at Soto's direction for "looking for walks" is, again, just utter nonsense. You don't think Soto wants to hit a dramatic game-tying home run in his first homestand as a Yankee? You think Soto goes to sleep dreaming about drawing a walk instead of hitting a massive home run for his team?

Furthermore, Soto having the elite plate discipline that he does is why he's Juan Soto. His eye is historically great and will be the reason he fetches one of the largest contracts in MLB history this offseason. Licata saying he has to swing the bat to get paid is true to an extent, but if he's swinging at pitches out of the strike zone he's going to lose himself money.

There is nothing positive to take out of this take. Just keep being you, Juan Soto. The Yankees will be better off for it. They already have been.