Radio host calls Juan Soto New York ‘villain’ after leaving Yankees for Mets

Juan Soto spent just one year in New York Yankees pinstripes, but what a year it was. The star outfielder helped the franchise reach the World Series for the first time since 2009, reinvigorating a fan base that had become extremely impatient with management. He formed an elite duo with premier hitter Aaron Judge and charmed the entire city. The famed Bleacher Creatures passionately chanted his name during the routine roll call and then urged ownership to pay the man in the offseason.

The Yankees aggressively pursued Soto, but in the end, he headed to Flushing after signing a record-breaking, 15-year, $765 million contract in free agency. A high-end talent had chosen the New York Mets over their supposed “big brother,” baseball’s most legendary franchise. The 26-year-old shattered the reality that the Bronx and so many sports fans believed was gospel.

It was unheard of to make such a change, but Steve Cohen’s checkbook, David Stearns’ roster-building prowess and Francisco Lindor’s rise in Queens have all contributed to a gradual shift in public perception. The reasons are ultimately unimportant, however. Soto’s decision, and the manner in which he has explained it, has made him an enemy in the eyes of Yankees fans everywhere.

WFAN host Keith McPherson, one person who belongs to said fan base, is touching on the severed bond between the four-time All-Star and his former supporters.

“I don’t think Juan Soto realized what he did going from Yankees to Mets,” he said on the “Foul Territory” podcast. “Even though he wasn’t a homegrown Yankee, he was here for a year {and} went to a World Series, and he left to go across town. These fans are insane, these people hate you now. You’re a villain. So, there are Yankees fans hate-watching Juan Soto. And what I mean by hate-watching, they’re rooting for him to fail.”