Mets fan delusion must end after postgame Juan Soto video they can't ignore

Calling Juan Soto's disillusion with the Mets "fan fiction" is only funny until Soto publicly clashes with his manager (checks notes) four hours later. At that point, it probably becomes a video you wish you could scrub from the internet (impossible).

As one popular Barstool Sports persona said before Monday's game, "If you believe that Mets management is 'concerned' with Juan Soto’s 'enthusiasm' — even for one single second — you are maybe the dumbest person alive."

Then, the game happened. Soto stopped and stared at what he perceived to be a home run ball towards the Green Monster. Instead, it stopped and clanged off the wall, and the $765 million slugger was stuck at first. After the game, his manager Carlos Mendoza — dealing with a second straight game with a hustling controversy — said he'd 'discuss' running out of the box with Soto. Good. Good to broach the subject.

Except ... Soto didn't see it that way. Real quick, is a "manager" disagreeing with a player's "enthusiasm'" running the bases an example of ... being concerned about enthusiasm? Let me know in the comments!

Yankees fans absolutely loving Juan Soto clashing with manager several hours after every Mets fan said nothing was wrong

What's more "delusional"? Wondering whether a shockingly unenthusiastic and shuffle-free Soto is having regrets about his offseason megadeal after a weekend of being lambasted by people who once loved him, or claiming that it's impossible there's a disconnect in the locker room as a disconnect plays out in realtime?

Soto probably aligned with the chatter this offseason coming from outside the Bronx that couldn't fathom Yankee fans being upset with someone for leaving them after just one year. How much could it really mean to them, anyway?

But what Soto didn't consider was how fraudulent he might look after spending the whole summer cultivating what seemed to be a genuine relationship with the Dominican flag-waving fans in right field. He didn't seem to grasp that turning his back on them at the 11th hour for a modest salary upgrade (but tiny in the grand scheme of things) might ignite some vitriol. In the midst of the third full game of piping hot boos, Soto began to warm up far from the scorned crowd, then ducked the media in the aftermath of the loss.

And, in his first chance to respond to the noise that he's feeling disaffected, he ignited a second controversy by doing the exact same thing. Would be pretty delusional to deny that. But, what do I know? I'm not the dumbest person alive.