Gerrit Cole said Juan Soto has the best feel for the strike zone of any player he’s ever come across. Aaron Judge called Soto “the greatest hitter out there.” Marcus Stroman said Soto will go down as one of the greatest players in MLB history.
On the day Soto was introduced to the media at the New York Yankees’ spring training complex two weeks ago, he sat at the podium proudly wearing a shirt that said “THE GENERATIONAL … JUAN SOTO
The expectations for Soto and the Yankees to deliver World Series title No. 28 are extremely high, especially because of the potential that this relationship may last for just one year. It’s too early to speculate on what might happen next offseason. Soto said he’s using this year to get to know the organization and see what playing in New York is like before deciding on his future.The Athletic caught up with Soto last week to discuss his trade to New York, why he wishes he could have spent his entire career in Washington, his preferred lineup spot and mor
Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarit
Looking back on the offseason, when did getting traded become something you started thinking abou
I was always in touch with A.J. Preller, the GM. He was saying that he was just listening and wasn’t trying to make a move. I always tried to tell him to let me know if he’s gonna do anything. He always tried to keep it quiet and calm. As the days go on, the conversations were getting stronger and stronger. That’s when he told me that he was looking to trade m
What was your initial reaction when it became a possibility that the Yankees were intereste
I mean, it’s always great. It was a great team and great organization. They have great people over there. When you hear good things and they’re trying to win, too, it just feels good. When they started talking about it, I was happy because it was another team that is going to have a chance to win a championship. I wasn’t that upset about it.You started your career with the Washington Nationals. You won a title there. Looking back on that time, do you wish that you could have spent your entire career in Washington
Yeah, 100 percent. I never wanted to leave Washington. It was a great team. I knew everybody there, from the bottom all the way to the top. I was really comfortable and it felt like home for me. I was happy. I had a house in Washington. I was really comfortable up there. Out of nowhere, they made that decision. They thought it was the best thing for the team. I just respected it because they were really clear with me. That’s one of the things I really respected from (general manager Mike) Rizzo. He was really clear about the trade stuff. But definitely I never thought I was going to leave D.C. I was really thinking I was going to stay there for my whole career.? d?e.t?y.e..”t.d?e.t?y.e..”ure.
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