PORT ST. LUCIE — They smiled and hugged. After all, they did. If you’re studying this sentence and are a fan of both New York crew, you maintain a a lot stronger ardour about which facet of the Bronx/Queens divide Juan Soto ended up on than anybody in uniform.
If you happen to had been a Yankee loyalist at Clover Park on Monday about 2 ½ hours earlier than first pitch, you most likely would have seen a traitor in a No. 22 Mets uniform. The Yankees, who all however shaped a greeting committee close to the customer’s dugout, noticed a businessman who they loved taking part in with final 12 months.
Certain, Aaron Boone advised reporters he conveyed to Soto that “he looks terrible in that uniform.” However that was fun line quite than animosity. Main leaguers are main leaguers for a lot of causes. One is that it is a sport replete with failure and, thus, most have a near-icy manner of dispatching the unhealthy shortly.
As a crew, the Yankees took about 24 hours to enter Plan B post-Soto’s signing with the Mets. His No. 22 was handed out to the already departed Dom Smith. On the events his identify arose within the Yankee clubhouse for six weeks, it was often related to a query by a reporter. It’s simply how the sport works. Brief recollections and restricted grudges for individuals who are good on shifting to the subsequent pitch.