Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

“15 Years, Not 15 Games”: Jeff Passan Dismisses Drama Around Juan Soto’s Comments

"Juan Soto is thrilled to be a Met. He's doing just fine"

Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

When you sign a $765 million contract and switch sides in one of the most hyped-up baseball rivalries in modern memory, people are going to hang on to every word you say, even if it’s completely overblown. Just ask Juan Soto, and now, Jeff Passan.

The baseball internet’s latest “issue”? Juan Soto dared to acknowledge reality. In an interview with The New York Post, Soto said, “It’s definitely different. I had the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me. I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that. Was pitched differently last year.”

That best hitter? Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ 2024 MVP and Soto’s partner-in-slug for their one-year Bronx bromance. The comments weren’t exactly shocking, Soto spoke plainly, praised Judge, and kept it moving. But some Mets fans didn’t take kindly to it, especially with Pete Alonso now hitting behind Soto.

ALSO READ: Juan Soto Admits He Was Protected by the ‘Best Hitter in Baseball’ With Yankees

Enter Jeff Passan, who hopped spoke to Chris Rose on Jomboy Media Baseball and waved off the noise as a classic non-troversy.

“He looked absolutely miserable, and it’s not because of the uniform that he was wearing, it’s because it’s freaking cold,” Passan said about Soto’s supposedly sour demeanor in a Mets jersey. “Some people just do not like the cold.”

Bro looks so depressed 🤣💀 pic.twitter.com/ywrspnJnYb
— MVJUDGE (@MVJUDGE99) April 15, 2025

As for the outrage over Soto’s quote?

“Are people actually saying this is a thing? Maybe I’m just being naive, because it’s New York, of course it’s a thing, but what he said… if Pete Alonso is being honest with himself, he would acknowledge that too,” Passan said.

“Juan Soto is thrilled to be a Met. He’s doing just fine,” Passan added. “And he’s doing just fine not because he’s got $765 million coming to him, but he’s doing just fine because he signed with the New York Mets for 15 years because he thought over the 15 years, not over 15 games, that he’s going to be in a better position.”

And while Mets Twitter might’ve been in meltdown mode earlier this week, Soto himself seems unfazed. After a quiet start by his standards, he’s heating up, two homers in two games and a .392 on-base percentage that would make most hitters jealous.

ALSO READ: Despite Historic Night, Aaron Judge Admits ‘Nobody Can Replace’ Juan Soto

So maybe everyone can take a deep breath. Juan Soto isn’t miserable. Pete Alonso isn’t mad. Jeff Passan isn’t buying the drama. And Mets fans? They might just want to enjoy the next 15 years of Soto being really, really good at baseball.

Aaron Judge

Juan Soto

Mets

Pete Alonso

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.