What started as a conversation about Juan Soto and MLB free agency turned into a quick argument that ended with Jon Heyman hanging up on WFAN’s Keith McPherson, declaring that he’s done with both the host and station.
Heyman was a guest on McPherson’s show on Friday night. Naturally, with Soto still unsigned and both the New York Yankees and New York Mets in on the bidding, the conversation quickly went there.
“Juan Soto, you knew that was gonna come up,” McPherson said.”I saw your tweet that Juan Soto might come up. And that’s the main thing. And when I look at your tweets and when I look at your history, I always say, ‘OK. This guy’s part of Boras Corp. What’s the percentage of the Juan Soto contract that you’re gonna get when you break the news on where he signs?”
There was a brief silence before Heyman chuckled and said, “No.”
“Unfortunately, I get no money for anything. I have no financial stake,” the MLB insider added.
“Not even .01? A .01 would be a lot,” McPherson interjected.
“No,” Heyman confirmed. “No stake. I don’t know where you get that from.”
After McPherson talked some about how the Soto news might break, noting that it likely won’t come on a Friday night, Heyman continued.
“There’s a lot of competition for these stories,” Heyman added. “You never know who can get ’em. Certainly, there are writers who are represented by agents. I am not. They may have advantages. There are all sorts of things at play here. We’re all trying our best. I’ll get some stories, won’t get some others.”
McPherson then brought up an error — or two errors — that Heyman made two years ago. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was a free agent after his historic 2022 campaign. Before Judge re-signed with the Yankees, Heyman incorrectly posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Judge had signed with the San Francisco Giants. Making the post more notorious is that Heyman called the slugger “Arson Judge,” something the Yankees broadcast humorously mentioned in 2024 when the Giants hosted the Yankees for a series in San Francisco.
“I love that you had a typo in it because that made me just feel like it wasn’t real in itself,” McPherson said. “And I know, obviously, we’re way past that. But I’ve also said, it would be awesome if you get to break the Juan Soto news because that puts that so far in the rearview.”
For those who didn’t hear the entire interview, this seemed to be the part that irritated Heyman. pic.twitter.com/87U3sQLVZk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 7, 2024
While there were some moments of awkwardness, they didn’t immediately manifest into anything more. That changed a few minutes later.
“I think the reason that got such play is because people believe everything I tweet,” Heyman said, referencing the ‘Arson Judge’ report. “I’ve had 100,000 tweets and you get one that was wrong — and it did say ‘appears’ — and I know I rushed it and it was a big mistake.”
Heyman’s tone then got a little louder.
“At some point, I think someone could probably drop it if they’re a nice person,” he said.
“What I think is, one, how I introduced you. Everybody in baseball knows who you are. So one, it’s a credit to your work, your following and how –,” McPherson said before Heyman interjected.
“By the way, I won’t be going on with you again. The whole thing has been a disaster,” he said.
“That’s OK,” a laughing McPherson replied.
“I can’t even believe you said that,” said Heyman, whose levels of frustration were increasing. “To question my integrity.”
“Are you being serious right now?” asked McPherson.
“I’m being serious,” Heyman confirmed. “Yeah. Asking me if I’m getting a cut because I have a relationship with an agent. It’s outrageous. I know you’re not a journalist. You don’t know anything about this. I know you don’t. But that’s an outrageous comment. You should know that much.”
“It’s Friday night at 8:30, Jon. And I am not taking this that serious,” McPherson said.
“You should know that much. I’m done with you and I’m done with WFAN. I can’t even believe it. I can’t even believe it,” Heyman said before hanging up. His final two words — “believe it” — were said in a particularly high-pitched, angry manner.
Jon Heyman’s spot with Keith McPherson ends abruptly.
“I’m done with you and I’m done with WFAN. Goodbye. I can’t even believe it. I can’t even BELIEVE IT!” pic.twitter.com/vXohLeRo9G
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 7, 2024
With Heyman now off the line, McPherson tried to clean up some of the mess.
“Thank you, Jon. Appreciate your time. He’s gotta get to bed. I did not expect it to go that way. I think if you heard my tone and the way that I am completely joking and kidding and having a lighter conversation. Something that I spoke about recently, too, with all of this Juan Soto drama, is we need some comic relief, man. I introduced you and gave credit to how everybody follows your words and your tweets and what you do. And if you felt some type of way about it and even like you said, ‘You regret it.’ I said ‘No regrets.’”
McPherson continued, offering an apology.
“It’s a testament to, OK, I guess that was a sore spot. But it’s been two years. I’ll apologize right now. I’m not above that. I apologize to Jon Heyman if that rubbed him the wrong way because clearly it did. It just ended the phone call. But maybe the Juan Soto news is coming.”
[Photo Credits: New York Post Sports/WFAN on YouTube]
