There isn’t a rational baseball fan in the world who expects New York Yankees fans to cheer Juan Soto after this offseason. After going to the World Series in pinstripes, only to then take this offseason to sign with the crosstown New York Mets, is not something anyone with any real allegiance would take lightly. So it’s easy to understand the saltiness of Yankees fans when it comes to Soto.

Having said that, the salt levels might’ve risen too high at this point, at least for some fans. We’ve gone beyond being upset at Soto to now fans are crossing the lines on age-old divisional rivalries just to show Soto… something.

A Yankees fan was in the stands at Citi Field as Soto and the Mets took on the Toronto Blue Jays, a longtime heated rival of the Yankees. And yet, the fan donning an Aaron Judge jersey was loudly celebrating the success of his favorite team’s AL East rival because Soto was playing on the other team.

One of the best parts of being a fan is wildly swinging between rational and irrational, but this is what we professionally call swinging way too hard into the latter.

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Yankees fan cheers for rival Blue Jays because of Juan Soto in peak irrational saltiness

If Soto is playing one of 24 other teams on any given night in baseball, I’m not going to sit here and gatekeep whether or not a Yankees fan roots for the demise of the superstar outfielder and the Mets alike. That’s actually somewhat reasonable, wanting Soto to ultimately prove that the pinstripes are better off without him.

However, when Soto and the Mets are playing the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles, or the Rays, that should change instantly.

In all actuality, what happens with Soto and the Mets has little to do with the Yankees in the 2025 season outside of the hurt feelings from the offseason. They’re in the National League and won’t have any real meaningful input on whether or not New York wins the AL East or goes back-to-back in winning the American League pennant. The success or lack thereof with Toronto, Boston, Baltimore and Tampa Bay, however, directly impacts New York.

There should be no world in which longstanding division rivalries, especially with the direct impact they have, shouldn’t usurp saltiness toward a player who left your favorite team. That should be written in the gospel of sports fandom — and probably is. Perhaps at least this Yankees fan (and any others who were with him in spirit) should refresh themselves on that.