Sometimes sports radio callers enhance a show. Other times, they drive hosts to storm out of the studio and quit their job.
WFAN host Chris McMonigle dealt with the latter Thursday night when the first caller of his show crafted a wild New York Yankees take. The Yankees have lost nine of their last 11 games, relinquishing first place to the Baltimore Orioles, and drawing absurd trade proposals out of the woodwork from desperate callers.
One caller almost made @CMacWFAN quit his show last night! pic.twitter.com/roRmUzX4lQ
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) June 28, 2024
“You have to think, with Juan Soto, obviously he’s not signed for next year. Maybe, we trade him. Right?” the caller asked McMonigle. “We trade him for Vlad Guerrero Jr, maybe take back a George Springer contract, he’s signed for another four years, he’s a bad contract, he’s not good. You take that back. and then maybe in the offseason we negotiate with Juan Soto.”
Ah yes, the “We’re on a bit of a losing streak, let’s trade our best player” sports radio phone call. The Yankees might need to make a move before the trade deadline, but trading Juan Soto isn’t it.
We can sit here and poke holes in the trade proposal. But this post is less about the semantics of why the 52-31 Yankees trading Soto to the Blue Jays is a moronic decision, and more about McMonigle’s reaction to the call.
Absolutely befuddled by the caller, McMonigle sat there and tried to laugh off the trade suggestion while rubbing his eyes out of frustration, but only until he couldn’t sit there anymore.
“I’m sorry, I’m gonna turn it off,” McMonigle said as he stood up, slammed his marble notebook on the table and threatened to leave the studio.
“The first call of the show can’t be, ‘Trade Juan Soto.’ The guy’s gotta be messing with me,” McMonigle reasoned while attempting to regain his composure. “He can’t be real. That can’t be real. That’s totally just designed to piss me off. And it worked. Trading Juan Soto for Vladimir Guerrero and George Springer is the dumbest thing I ever heard!”
And that’s saying a lot coming from a former producer for Mike Francesa, who took a lot of dumb calls from people attempting to piss him off. Similarly, it often worked.
[WFAN]

About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com
Recent Posts
Don La Greca regrets not fighting for his name on ‘The Michael Kay Show’: ‘I should have threatened to walk’
"I really felt like I got jerked around a lot"
Somebody sings ’90s rock songs to distract free throws at ACC Tournament
How can you concentrate on free throws with someone singing the Goo Goo Dolls, Creed, and The Cranberries?
NFL ‘exploring’ Thanksgiving Eve game as soon as next season
Yet another standalone window that could be sold to a streamer.
Wizards announcer thought Erik Spoelstra would pull Bam Adebayo ‘out of respect’ for Kobe Bryant
"And out of respect, Erik Spoelstra will pull Bam Adebayo."
Team USA’s WBC fate will air on FS1, not Tubi, as Fox changes course
Wednesday's Italy-Mexico game will decide whether the Americans make it through to the knockout round.
NBC shows live look-in of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point performance on Celtics-Spurs broadcast
Mike Tirico also gave updates on the NBC broadcast before the live look-in.