That Actually Happened

So it seems that in addition to more money ever paid to any player in any sport ever, Juan Soto gets possession of No. 22 written into his contract. Rules in the new CBA state players aren’t supposed to switch numbers without alerting the league office well in advance or by acquiring the inventory of materials bearing that combination of name and number, so there’s a further outlay Steve Cohen must make to erase the retail existence of Brett Baty.

They’ll probably trade him is the prevailing belief; if it gets the pitching help we still need I’d be in favor but we can’t lose sight of his being a top prospect only a short time ago who tore it up in AAA last year. And if the Mets don’t manage to re-sign Pete Alonso, there’s a strong argument to make him the third baseman and move Vientos to first base. Matt argues for reassigning Baty in 25 below, that seems OK to me.

So Juan Soto, huh? This reminds me of a few things–one is that we’ve finally struck back at the Phillies’ signing of Bryce Harper; another is 24 years ago when the Alex Rodriguez contract broke baseball. It was a long time before any deal surpassed his, and it seems like the Mets just did the same thing.

Catching up with other moves, Frankie Montas has worn 47 throughout his career and will step into that here with Joey Lucchesi gone. Jose Siri (No. 22 with Tampa Bay) will be shopping for a new number. And No. 35 is available for Clay Holmes, who also came from the Yankees.

Finally congrats to David Wright, who will be getting his number retired next summer. Let’s hope it’s the last for a long time. many of you probably know I’m a “small hall” guy when it comes to number retirement and a little uncomfortable with how freely to Mets have been distributing that honor. I’d much prefer the team Hall of Fame get some attention and player number issued with more awareness of history. Don’t issue 16 or 17 or 18 to any guy, but reserve it for the special ones.

All that said Wright totally deserves what’s coming to him–because players like him don’t come around very often. Retired numbers should be the same thing.