Random Thoughts

by Paul Semendinger

December 6, 2024

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I have had many busy weeks in my life and this has been one of them.  Since Sunday, I have literally gone from one event to another.  I come home and fall asleep and then am back at it.  I'm going 5,000 MPH every day.  It'll eventually calm down soon enough.  

There hasn't been much baseball news.  It seems Juan Soto may make up his mind by the end of the weekend.  I am kind of happy he didn't sign yet because I wouldn't have been able to engage with any of it the last few days.  If he signs Sunday, I'll be able to dig into this deeper.

My feelings on Soto and his contract are well documented.  He is exercising his right, collectively bargained, to get the best contract he can.  Whatever money he gets will be paid by a billion dollar team that has done their own calculations and who know that they'll be able to afford, and yes, make money off Juan Soto.  The owners and their business associates are very smart people.  They understand the dollars better than any of us.  There are those that will be outraged at Soto's contract.  "No one is worth that kind of money," some will say.  Well, they're wrong.  Juan Soto will be.  And the owners who are paying will be.  

We do not understand the vast riches that some people have.  For example, type  "Jeff Bezos net worth" into Google and take a look at the number.  Bezos is worth more than 332 seven hundred million dollar contracts.  Yeah, there are people worth gazillions.   Steve Cohen, the owner of the Mets, is the 96th richest person in the world with a net worth (according to Forbes) of 21.3 billion dollars.  He is worth more than 30 seven hundred million dollar contracts. He can well afford Juan Soto.  He can have a team of Juan Sotos and still have gazillions left over.  (And that's figuring his net worth now against the total value of the supposed Soto contract.)  If we break this down yearly, assuming Soto gets $50 million annually, that's 426 fifty million dollar baseball players.  In other words, Cohen himself could basically pay every single player in the National League $50,000,000 this year.  

Bottom line, these are smart owners, they know what every player is worth.  If they're offering a gigantic contract, they know they can afford it and still make money.  

The Hall of Fame announcements for the Classic Era Ballot will come out on Sunday.  I sense Dick Allen and Luis Tiant will get in.  I have no problem with that.  This is also typical of the Baseball Hall of Fame - putting guys in after they die.  It's so frustrating.  When the players themselves can appreciate it, they get left out in the cold.  

The Yankees should put Roy White and Graig Nettles in Monument Park while they can appreciate it.  Do the right thing Yankees, please.  Enough with the waiting already.  My goodness.

Regarding Soto, if the Yankees don't make the best offer and if Soto goes elsewhere, the Yankees have only themselves to blame.  

When Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers, so many said, "He was going there no matter what."  Maybe he was.  The Yankees certainly didn't force the issue.  They offered $25 million less.  Some scoff at that number.  "What's $25 million?" they say.  I say, "It's a lot of money."  For those who say $25 million isn't a lot of money, please send me just $25.00.  Why not?  It's just twenty-five dollars.  Then some say, "The Mets matched the Dodgers' offer."  This is so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said, but the Mets aren't the Dodgers or the Yankees.  The comparison isn't close.  Of course with an equal offer he'd go to the Dodgers.  Finally, if he was going to the Dodgers no matter what, why didn't the Yankees offer more than the Dodgers?  He wouldn't have taken it...right?

If the Yankees and another team offer the same deal to Soto and he goes to the other team, I have no problem with that.  None.  Juan Soto doesn't have to be a Yankee.  I want him on the Yankees, but he is free to sign wherever he wants.  

If the Yankees don't get Soto, I hope they are planning on a host of other big moves.

There is a player who has been worth more than 4.0 WAR each of the last three seasons.  He plays a position the Yankees need to fill.  He just turned 30, so I wouldn't give him more than 5 years, but I suspect for the next few years, he'll be a 4.0+ win player each season.  That player is Alex Bregman.  Again, before anyone jumps on the "cheater" trope, please explain how the Astros cheating was worse than what the 1951 Giants did.  This from FanGraphs, "The famous comeback of the 1951 Giants that culminated in Bobby Thomson’s pennant-clinching “Shot Heard Round the World” home run was aided by a buzzer system as well. The surviving Giants sounded anything but remorseful when that story came out."  If one is going to hate on Bregman, you must also hate on Bobby Thompson and Willie Mays and all of the Giants from that year.  Please tell me the difference between those teams before anyone says, "But the Astros..."

I love Christmas time.  It is wonderful.  It is, in many ways, the most wonderful time of the year.

I hope the Yankees gift their fans with a ton of great presents.  Get Juan Soto and then spend big.  Yes, indeed.  These are the Yankees.  They should go big, go huge, every year.  It's beyond time for a World Championship.  

As I have said, if the Yankees sign Juan Soto, I will buy a small season ticket package.  If they spend, I'll spend too.

Let's Go Yankees!