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According to one MLB analyst, Juan Soto does not move the needle for MLB franchises. This was the take of Boomer Esiason, a WFAN analyst, one day after the 2025 MLB season opened.
Soto signed for a record $765 million in the offseason, a number that no one has ever reached in American sports. He's locked down for the next 15 years and had numerous suitors who offered similar figures.
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Still, the analyst doesn't believe that Soto is like Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes, or Shohei Ohtani:
"I think there's three athletes in baseball that move the needle... That would be Shohei Ohtani, the great Aaron Judge, and Paul Skenes... I don't think [Juan Soto] moves the needle. I think he's a great baseball player... I think they way overpaid for him, but that's their money and that's my team and I want us to do well and I want them to win."
The analyst said Soto has never gotten the Ohtani treatment where broadcasts will count down to his next at-bats. If that take wasn't hot enough, Esiason said that Alex Rodriguez was a needle-mover, but that Derek Jeter was not.
Soto went 1/3 with two walks in his New York Mets debut, a 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros. Soto was up for the winning run in the ninth but was struck out by Josh Hader.
Juan Soto addresses failure in Mets debut
With a 3-2 count and representing the winning run on Thursday, Juan Soto was fooled by a pitch and struck out to end the game. He said after the contest that he was sitting for a fastball.
He said, via ESPN:
"His best pitch is the fastball, so I was sitting on the fastball."
Soto also said he would've been fine taking a walk in that spot to leave the game in Pete Alonso's hands:
"We all want to do something in a big spot. We all try to get the knock and try to bring the runs in and try to help the day in any way. But, for me, I don't mind taking a walk right there. I have Pete [Alonso] behind me, and he's a really good power hitter."
Soto eventually admitted that Hader "just got" him in that situation and he came up empty.
