This Entire Juan Soto Saga Feels Exactly Like The Kevin Durant Sweepstakes Back In 2016

Listen, I am most certainly not what you would call a "baseball guy". Not in the sense that I don't enjoy having the Sox on in the background all summer while I do shit around the house, but I don't exactly follow it to the degree as I do my one true love, which is the game of basketball.

But as a sports fan, it's impossible to go a day without hearing some sort of "report" about Juan Soto. From what I gather, the guy is pretty good. Some might call him one of the best players in the game today. I apologize if that's oversimplifying his actual talent, but you get the gist. 

Normally I wouldn't give too much of a shit about a baseball free agent, mostly because nothing in the last 5 years has shown me that John Henry and FSG are going to pony up the cash it would take to sign a player like this, so why should I care? But that's the beauty of this type of hostage situation where a generational player has entire fanbases by the balls as everyone waits for the formal announcement.

In a lot of ways, it really reminds me of the KD Sweepstakes back in 2016 during the 4th of July weekend. For those of us who cared and have no life, you couldn't leave your house until that Woj bomb hit. Hours and hours of scrolling and refreshing your timelines only to see the same reports that don't actually tell you anything, just that something is coming. As a Celtics fan at that time, I was only interested in "reports" that helped push the agenda I preferred, which is not too different from what I imagine fellow Sox fans are doing right now when it comes to Soto updates

As a KMS listener, I know why people are hesitant to believe Mick. It's no surprise to me that "credible" baseball people are trying to deny it because they might not love getting cucked on the biggest story in the sport. 

But at the same time, when you're in a situation like this what matters is believing what you want to believe. I'm not a baseball insider so as someone who as the ability to look at this objectively, who's to say there aren't real sources backing these claims? Do you have any sources? Pretty sure you don't. I know I sure as shit don't so it's good enough for me, similar to how things were with KD and the Celts back in 2016. I know that ultimately didn't exactly work out in their favor, but that doesn't mean the reporting wasn't true, it was just that the reporting was the Celts were the #2 option (eye roll) and lost out to a generational dynasty.

But leading into that KD decision, it sure did feel like it was a possibility, which I imagine is how you have to feel as a Sox fan until you're told otherwise. We all remember the famous Hamptons trip when the Celts brought Tom Brady along to try and convince KD to come to Boston which in this Soto situation for the Sox is basically David Ortiz. He's the baseball Tom Brady when it comes to the Sox and Boston. Will it work? Who knows! As long as Kelly Olynyk wasn't part of the pitch, you have to think there's reason for optimism.

The deeper you look into these two sports hostage situations, the more alike they feel. You have Soto who just came up short in the World Series (think NBA Finals), not too different from KD losing in the 2012 Finals. You have the champion Dodgers who have more money than God ready to get into the mix and create an absolute powerhouse superteam by adding a generational talent because they discovered a new way to structure contracts and do shady shit with the money. 

Does that sound familiar to anyone? May I remind you of the prayer cap spike in the NBA in 2016 that was the only way something like this was possible?

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

You have the original teams (OKC, NYY) who the player has an opportunity to become a franchise legend with if they stay (and win a title). And most importantly, the entire sports world is essentially on pause until that decision is announced. 

There are only a handful of instances in recent sports history where the whole sports world was held hostage like this. LeBron's decision (the first one), KD's decision to go to GS, Ohtani's decision, and now this. No surprise those are arguably the best players in their respective sports' history, and if you're a fan of one of the teams in the running for one of these players, it truly takes over your life. There's nothing else really like it. 

So for my own selfish reasons, it'd be pretty cool if the Sox were able to do what the Celts could not back in 2016. Unfortunately, there's a part of everyone that probably fears the ending to this Soto sweepstakes is going to end just like the KD one and he's going to end up hopping to the team that just beat him in the playoffs, essentially ruining any chance that another team could possibly win a championship for the foreseeable future.