When speaking with the media after the New York Mets' July 8 game against the Baltimore Orioles, Mets slugger Juan Soto was asked whether he would have liked to have made the NL All-Star team.
"What do you think?" Soto responded, per an X post from SNY. "I think it's a lot of money on the table if I make it."
Juan Soto was asked if he would have liked to have made the All-Star team:
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2025
"What do you think? I think it's a lot of money on the table if I make it" pic.twitter.com/OTkqmR6zVx
Soto is referring to the fact that he would have received a $100,000 bonus if he had made the 2025 MLB All-Star roster. However, given that he signed the biggest contract (15 years, $765 million) in sports history this past offseason, his immediately referencing the money he lost with this All-Star snub is rubbing some people the wrong way.
One person who didn't like this comment was Yankees play-by-play broadcaster Michael Kay, who put Soto on blast during a July 9 episode of The Michael Kay Show.
"I was ready for Soto to say, 'Of course I'm disappointed. I want to be amongst the best, I consider myself one of the best.' Because he has a legitimate beef that he's not on the All-Star team," Kay said, per an X post from @ESPNNewYork.
He later added, "But instead of saying, 'Yeah, I want to be amongst the best...' he said, 'I think it's a lot of money on the table if I make it.' Oh, goodness gracious. Talk about being tone deaf. Come on, Juan. The last I looked... you're making a smidge under $47 million this season. And you're upset that you're not making the All-Star game because of an All-Star bonus that you have in your contract?
"Do you know how bad that looks that you said that? Even if you thought it, fine. I mean, what kind of expenditures do you have?" he continued. "To even speak that, do you even realize how it makes you look?"
ICYMI on The Michael Kay Show on @880ESPNNewYork:@RealMichaelKay reacts to Juan Soto’s comments about not making the All-Star game. pic.twitter.com/lmBnJvWnES
— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) July 9, 2025
Many would agree with Kay's stance.
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