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Doc Gooden has played for and won World Series titles, a decade apart, with both the Mets and the Yankees.
And the former Cy Young award winner thinks “it will be interesting” to see whether the local teams slug it out for supreme free-agent Juan Soto this winter.
“Me, personally, I don’t see it [happening]. I think the only way — and this is just my opinion — but the only way the Mets really go after Soto is if the Yanks can’t sign him,” Gooden said Saturday at the Fanatics Fest NYC at Javits Center. “Then, I do think the Mets will step in and go after him. But normally, you don’t ever see the two teams going after the same guy.
“But if you’re trying to win, and you’re interested in Soto, ya gotta put all the friendship and personal stuff aside and do what you gotta do to make your team better.”
Soto has teamed with fellow Yankees superstar Aaron Judge to form a lethal offensive duo in pinstripes, with 34 homers, 87 RBIs and a 1.038 OPS, which is behind only Judge’s 1.171 OPS in MLB this season.
“He’s legit. If I’m starting a franchise, I’m not saying I’d give him whatever he wants, but I’m making him very happy for the next 10 years and [would] build my team around him,” Gooden added.
The Mets and owner Steve Cohen also are facing the potential free agency this offseason of first baseman Pete Alonso, and Gooden hopes the four-time All-Star remains in Queens.
“Oh man, I hope he stays,” Gooden said. “Pete’s 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, I think Pete is like the heart and soul of that team. Just what he brings. If I’m a pitcher and I’m facing that lineup, Pete’s the one guy I don’t want to beat me. I don’t know if other pitchers look at it that way, because Lindor has stepped up big time. But I think Pete makes everybody in that lineup better.”
Still, Gooden noted that very few homegrown players have spent their entire careers with the Mets.
He and 1986 World Series-winning teammate Darryl Strawberry, for instance, also earned championship rings with the Yankees in 1996.
“It’s hard, especially now. [Scott] Boras scares me more than Pete,” Gooden said, referring to Alonso’s agent. “When he got Boras, I’m like, ‘Uh-oh.’ Boras is the top guy and he gets the top dollars. And somebody out there might say, ‘Hey, we’re willing to give [Alonso] this.’”
As for the playoff potential for his former New York teams, Gooden said he currently gives the starting pitching edge to the Yankees.
Asked if either team’s rotation is good enough to play deep into October, Gooden replied, “That’s a great question.’ ”
“This is just me, but I think the Yankees rotation is better than the Mets rotation right now,” the 59-year-old Gooden said. “I like [Mets injured rookie Christian] Scott, and I think if he makes it back, that would definitely boost their rotation.
“[Kodai] Senga obviously would have helped, but he’s missed so much time, and I don’t see him coming back [this year]. If he did, it would be like spring training all over again. I’d say that the Yankees have a little better chance with their rotation right now.”
After experiencing off-field issues during and after their playing careers, Gooden and Strawberry both had their jersey numbers retired by the Mets at Citi Field earlier this season.
“It’s been crazy, unbelievable; everything is timing,” Gooden said. “For it to happen this year … to get my number retired, my [nine] grandkids got to see it, and that’s something that means a lot.
“And for the New York fans, it’s something that the fans obviously played a big part to have that happen. For me, now when I go to the ballpark, you feel like you belong. For so many years, I just felt like — I don’t know if it’s because of what I did off the field or it was going to the Yankees — but I didn’t feel like I truly belonged. Now I feel like I do belong.”
