Doc Gooden won World Series titles with both the Mets and Yankees, 10 years apart.
And the former Cy Young Award winner thinks it will be “interesting” to see if his hometown team mounts a tough battle this winter to acquire top free agent, Juan Soto.
“For me personally, [happening]”This is just my opinion, but I think the only way the Mets would make a serious move to acquire Soto is if the Yankees can’t sign him,” Gooden said Saturday at FanaticsFest NYC at the Javits Center. “If that happens, the Mets will step in and get him. But typically, you don’t have two teams going after the same player.”
“But if we want to win and we’re interested in Soto, we have to put aside all the friendships and personal stuff and do what we have to do to make the team better.”
Soto has teamed up with Yankees superstar Aaron Judge as one of the more powerful offensive forces in pinstripes, and Soto has posted MLB numbers this season of 34 homers, 87 RBI and a 1.038 OPS, second only to Judge’s 1.171 OPS.
“He’s the real deal. If I were to start a franchise, I wouldn’t say I’d give him everything he wants, but I would make him very happy for the next 10 years,” he said. [would] We’re going to build a team around him,” Gooden added.
The Mets and owner Steve Cohen are also dealing with the possibility of first baseman Pete Alonso becoming a free agent this offseason, and Gooden would like the four-time All-Star to remain in Queens.
“Yeah, I hope he stays,” Gooden said. “Pete’s a Tampa guy, and I’m a Tampa guy, so I’m a little biased.”
“Obviously, we have great players on the team. [Francisco] Lindo and [Brandon] “I think Pete is like the heart and soul of the team, as much as Nimmo is, what he brings to the team. If I was a pitcher facing that lineup, I definitely don’t want Pete to lose. I don’t know if other pitchers feel that way because Lindor has improved so much. But I think Pete makes the whole lineup better.”
Still, Gooden noted that few former Mets players have spent their entire careers with the organization.
For example, he and his 1986 World Series winning teammate Darryl Strawberry also won championship rings with the Yankees in 1996.
“It’s especially hard now. [Scott] “I’m more scared of Boras than I am of Pete,” Gooden said of Alonso’s agent. “When he got Boras, I was like, ‘Wow.’ Boras is a top player, he’s the highest paid, and someone might say, ‘Hey, we’re willing to pay him.’ [Alonso] this.'”
As for his former team’s chances of making the playoffs, Gooden said the Yankees currently have the advantage in terms of starting pitching.
When asked if either team’s starting rotation was strong enough to play through October, Gooden said, “That’s a great question.”
“This is just my opinion, but I think the Yankees starting pitchers are better than the Mets starting pitchers right now,” Gooden, 59, said. [Mets injured rookie Christian] Scott, if he comes back, I think it would definitely strengthen the team’s rotation.
“[Kodai] Having Senga there would have helped but he has been out for a long time and is not expected to return. [this year]If that happens, it will be like going through spring training all over again. I would say the Yankees have a little bit of a shot right now in the starting rotation.”
Both Gooden and Strawberry experienced off-field issues during their playing days and after retirement and had their uniform numbers retired by the Mets at Citi Field earlier this season.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s crazy, it’s all about timing,” Gooden said. “And this year it happened, my number got retired, [nine] It means a lot to me that my grandchildren got to see that.
“And for the fans in New York, it’s obviously because of you guys that it’s happened. For me, when I go to the ballpark now, I feel like I belong here. For many years, I just didn’t feel like I really belonged here, I don’t know if it was because of what I did off the field or because I was with the Yankees. Now I feel like I belong here.”
