Doc Gooden played for and won World Series titles with the Mets and the Yankees a decade apart.
And the former Cy Young Award winner says it will be “interesting” to see if local teams compete for coveted free agent Juan Soto this winter.
“Personally, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think the only way — and this is just my opinion — that the Mets can really go after Soto is if the Yankees can’t sign him,” Gooden said Saturday at Fanatics Fest NYC at the Javits Center. “Then I think the Mets will step in and get him. But you never usually see two teams going after the same guy.”
“But if you want to win and you’re interested in Soto, you have to put all the friendships and personal things aside and do what you have to do to make your team better.”
Soto has teamed up with fellow Yankees superstar Aaron Judge to form a deadly offensive duo in the pinstripe uniform, with 34 home runs, 87 RBIs and an OPS of 1.038 that trails only Judge’s OPS of 1.171 this MLB season.
“He’s real. If I start a franchise, I’m not saying I’m going to give him everything he wants, but I’m going to make him very happy for the next 10 years and (would) build my team around him,” Gooden added.
The Mets and owner Steve Cohen also face the possibility of first baseman Pete Alonso leaving in free agency this offseason, and Gooden hopes the four-time All-Star stays in Queens.
“Oh man, I hope he stays,” Gooden said. “Pete is a Tampa guy; I’m a Tampa guy, so I’m a little biased.”
“Obviously there are great guys on the team like (Francisco) Lindor and (Brandon) Nimmo, but to me Pete is the heart and soul of this team. Just what he brings. When I’m a pitcher and I’m going against this lineup, Pete is the one guy I don’t want to hit me. I don’t know if other pitchers feel the same way because Lindor has improved tremendously. But I think Pete makes everyone on this lineup better.”
Gooden pointed out, however, that very few homegrown players have spent their entire careers with the Mets.
For example, he and his teammate Darryl Strawberry, who won the 1986 World Series, also won championship rings with the Yankees in 1996.
“It’s tough, especially now. (Scott) Boras scares me more than Pete,” Gooden said of Alonso’s agent. “When he got Boras, I was like, ‘Uh-oh.’ Boras is the top guy and gets the most money. And someone out there might say, ‘Hey, we’re willing to give (Alonso) that.'”
As for the playoff potential of his former New York teams, Gooden said he currently prefers the Yankees as a starting pitcher.
When asked if either team’s rotation was good enough to play well into October, Gooden replied, “That’s a great question.”
“This is just my opinion, but I think the Yankees’ rotation is better than the Mets’ right now,” said Gooden, 59. “I like (injured Mets rookie Christian) Scott, and I think if he comes back, it would definitely strengthen their rotation.”
“(Kodai) Senga would have helped, of course, but he’s missed so much time and I don’t think he’ll come back (this year). If he did, it would be like the whole of spring training. I would say the Yankees have a little better chance with their rotation right now.”
After struggling off the field during and after their playing careers, Gooden and Strawberry’s jersey numbers were retired by the Mets at Citi Field earlier this season.
“It was crazy, unbelievable; it’s all about timing,” Gooden said. “For it to happen this year … for my number to be blocked, my (nine) grandchildren were able to see it, and that means a lot to me.”
“And the fans in New York obviously played a big part in making that happen. When I go to the stadium now, I feel like I belong. For many years, I just felt – I don’t know if it was because of what I did off the field or because I went to the Yankees – that I didn’t really feel like I belonged. Now I feel like I belong.”
