Michael Kay has a bone to pick with the Mets’ $765 million star.
YES Network’s play-by-play broadcaster sounded off on Juan Soto following comments made by the 26-year-old outfielder about not being named an All-Star this year, particularly the “money on the table” with the snub.
“Talk about being tone-deaf,” Kay said Wednesday on his self-titled program, as covered by Awful Announcing.
“Come on, Juan. The last I looked, you are making a smidge under $47 million this season. And you are upset that you aren’t making the All-Star Game because of an All-Star bonus you have in your contract? Do you know how bad that looks that you said that? Even if you thought it, fine. What kind of expenditures do you have?
“I don’t even know what the bonus is. Let’s say it’s $500,000, which is nothing to sneeze at. But you do make $47 million this year. To even speak that, do you realize how it makes you look? There are gonna be players that make $40 million a year that are going to roll their eyes. Why would you even speak that into existence? Do you know how bad it makes you look?”
Soto, in the first season of his historic 15-year contract with the Mets, missed out of being an All-Star for the first time in five seasons.
When asked Tuesday about not being elected, Soto acknowledged other players deserved a spot more than he did.
“I mean, it’s a part of baseball,” Soto said. “There is a lot of players out there with great numbers that deserve to be there. It’s a roster with only 25 guys. They can’t take all of the guys into it. It happens.”
Soto then responded to a follow-up question about whether he’d like to make the team, with a reporter noting some players like to enjoy R&R on the break.
“What do you think?” he said as media members laughed. “I think it’s a lot of money on the table.”
Soto’s first season in Queens has been a rollercoaster as he’s overcome early struggles to surge in the summer.
He posted a .322 batting average in June, along with 11 home runs and 20 RBIs, and is hitting. 264 with a .900 OPS for the season.
Kay, who initially believed that Soto’s comments were the product of “some AI nonsense,” was at the center of Soto drama earlier this season.
He stirred buzz in May by saying Soto was “very, very glum around the clubhouse” amid his slump, and how he wanted to re-sign with the Yankees but moved to the Mets due to a family preference.
When Soto found his stride, Mets fans went after Kay, who then targeted the fan base in a June tirade.
The Mets visit the Royals in a three-game series starting Friday before the All-Star break.
