PORT ST. LUCIE — We had been sitting within the dugout at Clover Park watching the Mets hitters, specifically Juan Soto, taking their pre-game rips and Darryl Strawberry, a not-so-impassive observer, was requested if he’d had “the talk” with the Mets’ $765 million greenback man.
“Not really,” stated Straw who’s in Mets camp for simply a few days earlier than returning residence to St. Louis to renew his ministry work within the native prisons. “You mean about his responsibilities here? He knows what’s expected of him. But he’s already done it, and done it in New York.”
“But doesn’t the big contract automatically create a leadership role for him?” I requested him.
Darryl laughed.
“Leadership? He leads by example,” he stated. “By that I mean he plays every day. Players notice that. He already has the presence. For me, that would’ve been the No. 1 reason to give him all that money — that and the fact he’s only 26. He plays every day and you got to give credit for that. Baseball’s for the younger players now.”
That Soto has performed 150 or extra video games in the entire final six full seasons undoubtedly factored into what turned a four-team bidding struggle throughout $700 million, in Darryl’s opinion much more than the profession excessive 41 homers he hit batting in entrance of Aaron Decide with the Yankees final yr. “For me the most important stat of all is games played,” Straw stated. “Look back through the years, the best players are the ones who play every day and are most consistent. I think of most consistent and I think of Barry Bonds. Soto too.”
I discussed to him that Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso additionally put up up day-after-day.
“That’s why I really like this team,” Straw stated. “They got the three big guys who lead by example just like we had Keith [Hernandez], Gary [Carter] and me in 1986.”
It’s a credit score to Steve Cohen that he has seen match to deliver again essentially the most distinguished Mets alumni, Strawberry, Doc Gooden, David Wright specifically, and make them a part of the group. The Mets have all the time had a wealthy historical past (if restricted) however by no means absolutely embraced it underneath the earlier possession. I bear in mind strolling into Citi Subject with Tom Seaver the primary time as he gazed across the rotunda in dismay in any respect the Jackie Robinson tributes and commented: “I loved and respected Jackie Robinson as a player and pioneer in baseball. I just don’t ever remember him being a Met.”
“I am grateful to Steve for bringing me back in the fold,” Darryl stated. “That’s one of things Soto will learn going from the Yankees to over here.
“The Yankees have tradition going back 80 years with many World Series and many championships whereas the Mets have just a couple. But he’s got a 12-year contract and with Steve as the owner providing the resources he [has a] chance to catch up a lot on the Yankees. I really like the way David Stearns is going about building this team. Very methodical.”
It was a bit of over a yr in the past that Strawberry suffered an enormous near-fatal coronary heart assault through which medical doctors described his restoration “a miracle.” I joked with him how he appears to have 9 lives, having beforehand survived bouts with colon most cancers, to not point out years of drug and alcohol abuse. Throughout his restoration from the guts assault, his buddies attributed it to overwork in his ministry, seemingly by no means turning down requests to evangelise the great phrase in faculties, church buildings and prisons.
“Are you at least taking it a little more easy now?” I requested him.
“Aw, not so much,” Straw stated, smiling. “You know me. The way I look at it, I’m gonna die anyway. It’s a whole lot better going out this way than my other life.”
IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
Final Thursday, Tampa Bay Rays proprietor Stu Sternberg introduced the franchise was not going to maneuver ahead with the proposed $1.3 billion stadium deal in St. Petersburg, citing the considerably elevated value of the deal as a result of delays from the hurricanes that destroyed the roof of their current residence, Tropicana Subject, final fall. Even earlier than Sternberg’s determination to tug out of the St. Pete deal — which was not a shock — he’d been instructed by Commissioner Rob Manfred he now must promote the group. From the day he purchased the Rays in 2004 for just below $200 million, Sternberg was underfinanced and the foremost league homeowners have grown uninterested in subsidizing the Rays with $60 million in income sharing and one other $60 million from MLB’s central fund (which primarily covers his payroll) yearly he’s owned the franchise. On the similar time, nevertheless, Manfred has been steadfast in his help for the Tampa Bay market and has emphatically instructed Sternberg he is not going to help a relocation of the Rays. That leaves Sternberg no alternative however to promote to a neighborhood group. I’m instructed there are three teams lining as much as purchase the group, which final April was valued by Forbes at $1.25 billion, a tidy revenue for certain for Sternberg.
One among them, believed to be the lead group headed by Dan Doyle, a self-made billionaire who based DEX Imaging, a Tampa-based firm that leases copy machines, which he bought to Staples in 2019 after which purchased it again once more together with Gamut Capital Administration final yr. In keeping with a supply, Doyle made a suggestion to Sternberg for the Rays final yr however was turned down. In 2019, Doyle and his son, Dan Jr, purchased a neighborhood public golf course in Belleair and turned it into the unique Pelican Golf Membership which hosts a significant LPGA occasion in November. A second group is alleged to be headed up by Tampa native and former proprietor of the San Francisco 49ers, Edward DeBartolo Jr., whereas the third group is from Orlando and has been searching for to purchase the Rays for years and transfer them to Disney World. It’s believed, now that the St. Pete deal is lifeless, MLB would really like the Rays to maneuver throughout the bridges to Tampa the place two potential websites for a brand new stadium have been mentioned — a tract of land south of downtown Tampa close to historic Ybor Metropolis and the Fairgrounds additional east off Interstate 4. On Friday, the Tampa Bay Occasions reported that the Rays had made a proposal not too long ago for a plan to renovate Tropicana Subject in alternate for extending their lease till 2038, however added the plan was not properly obtained by both St. Petersburg or Pinellas County officers. Mentioned an MLB official: “That was just Stu trying to hold on to the team. Would have been more of the same old, same old.” In the meantime, the Rays will play their residence video games this yr on the Yankees spring coaching 11,000-seat residence Steinbrenner Subject (which Hal Steinbrenner emphasised final week was a “one-year” deal) whereas Tropicana Subject undergoes its repairs. The town of St. Petersburg is obligated to pay for the repairs underneath phrases of the Rays’ lease which expires in 2028.
Initially Printed: March 15, 2025 at 10:30 AM EDT
