Countless media members have weighed in on Juan Soto opting to leave the New York Yankees in favor of the New York Mets. But perhaps none are more scorned by this decision than NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.
Eisen, who is from Brooklyn, New York, has been a Yankees fan for decades. With that comes a longstanding opinion that the majority of Yankees fans share, which is that New York is objectively a Yankees town.
However, Juan Soto doesn’t quite see things that way. In his introductory press conference, Soto claimed that New York has been a Mets town “for a long time”
“It’s been in a Mets town for a long time, so I think we just gotta bring it to the top,” said Soto.
Whether he truly believes this or is just now saying this because he decided to sign with the Mets is obviously up for interpretation. Either way, Eisen was incredibly bothered by this, vigorously disagreeing with Soto’s assessment on Friday’s edition of The Rich Eisen Show.
“This one got me,” said Eisen. “It’s the last paragraph of the ESPN story where I’m reading about what yesterday was about. Juan Soto ‘It’s been a Mets town for a long time’. What is he talking about? Juan, I’ve been around New York City for 55 years. He’s been around for the proverbial New York minute. Dude, get out of here. Get out of here with that noise. It is just like here in Los Angeles. Clipper town? Get out of here. It’s a Mets town? Yeah, in your head. He just lived the Yankee life for a year.”
T.J. Jefferson, who was wearing a Mets hat, pushed back against Eisen, detailing that Soto never owed the Yankees anything since he was traded to the organization.
“It’s amazing that these Yankees fans act like he owed them something. He got traded there. He didn’t opt to go there. They don’t have any rights to this man.”
Eisen did acknowledge that Yankees fans have been spoiled for years by always getting the big-name players they desired. But ultimately, his larger point was that Soto’s declaration of New York being a Mets town is absurd.
“Don’t give me this nonsense that it’s been a Mets town for a long time. A long time? The Daily News headline is ‘Sorry Yanks’. Not like ‘Hey Meet the Met’. They are talking to the larger newspaper purchaser. Why would they choose to say ‘Sorry Yanks?’ Why would they do that? Oh, it’s a Jets town. Could you imagine if Aaron Rodgers said that when he showed up? It ain’t a Jet town. And I’m a Jet guy.
“Guess what? For 100 years, there have been championships from the Yankees. The Mets have 1969 and 1986. Get out of here. Honestly, I am acting as if somebody that O’Shea Jackson Jr. lost to the Clippers that he really wanted would say that it has been a Clippers town for a long time. That’s the way I’m acting right now. Get out of here. That I will not continence.”
