Over the past month, we’ve been speculating where Juan Soto will play for the rest of his career. With the 26-year-old phenom hitting the open market, everyone was lining up to try to get him to sign with their club. However, there were only four true contenders, the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mets. However, everyone was keeping an eye on the two teams, the Mets and the Yankees. Those were considered the favorites to land the superstar.
After all the rumors and doomscrolling on Twitter/X, we finally have our answer. Soto will be staying in New York but will not be staying in the Bronx. He’ll be coming to Queens, after signing a 15-year 765 million-dollar contract with the Mets! The largest contract in sports history and a franchise-changing move for the Mets. The Mets have never made a move like this. They’ve never brought in a player of Soto caliber. This move changes not only the Mets but baseball in general.
What Soto Means for the Mets
Soto is obviously a massive upgrade to this Mets lineup. He’s the best hitter of this generation. No one has a better knowledge of strike zone than Soto. Just look at this past season. He slashed .288/.419/.569 for a .989 OPS, with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 178. Now sure his power stats are a little inflated because of the short porch in Yankee Stadium, but his career numbers tell a similar story. He has a career slash line of .285/.421/.532 for a .953 OPS, with 201 home runs 592 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 160.
Soto doesn’t just hit in the regular season, he’s also one of the most clutch players in all of baseball. In his ten postseason series, he’s slashed .281/.389/.538 for a .927 OPS with eleven home runs and 30 RBIs. When the lights are brightest Soto steps up. That’s something that not every player can do, look at Aaron Judge. So having this body of work makes you confident it will continue.
But the best part about Soto is he’s only 26 years old. Meaning he’s just about to enter the prime of his career. We might have not even seen the best of Soto yet. Which is crazy to think about, given what he’s done so far. He’ll slide perfectly into the second spot in the order right behind Fransico Lindor. Creating one of the best one-two punches in the MLB. It also puts the Mets a lot closer to the Dodgers. This move alone gives them a real chance at the World Series, and they aren’t done yet.
Changes New York Baseball Culture
This move doesn’t just make the Mets better but increases the perception of the team as well. Since their inception, the Mets have always been the “little brother” of the Yankees. Sure there was a brief period in the late 80s when the Mets ran New York. However, that quickly faded away in the 90s and the Mets have never come close to recapturing it. It always felt like the Yankees were always competing for the World Series, and the Mets couldn’t stop tripping over themselves.
However, this move changes that narrative. The Mets can no longer be written off as “little brother”. You can’t just say they’re not gonna sign someone because their the Mets and the Yankees always beat them. That’s no longer true. Because Soto picked the Mets instead of the Yankees, and all the history, and prestige of the pinstripes.
Soto is set to become an iconic Met. Instead of being the next Babe Ruth or Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees, he’ll be one of the first Met to hold that title. Sure Tom Seaver will forever be the most important player in Mets franchise history. However, Soto is going to bring the Mets to level we’ve never seen before.
Thanks for reading! Credit for my feature image to Maddie Meyer. You can find more MLB content at Belly Up Sports and follow me on Twitter/X.
