PORT ST. LUCIE — Contemplating he’s performed for 3 totally different groups already, this isn’t Juan Soto‘s first rodeo. But it’s the 26-year-old’s first in Port St. Lucie, as the most recent star of the Mets. And for the primary time in about 5 years, he didn’t should reply any questions on the place he can be enjoying sooner or later.
The Yankee-turned-Met shall be sporting blue and orange till he’s 40 after signing a file 15-year, $765 million contract with the Amazin’s in December.
“It’s very good to be sitting here and knowing that I’m going to be here for a long time and be here in the same chair for a long time,” Soto mentioned Sunday at Clover Park. “It’s really exciting. I can’t wait to see how it goes by the years and how we can enjoy it and embrace it every year. And to have fun with it because at the end of the day, it’s going be my home, it’s going to be my family’s home, and we’re going to do our best to bring a championship to the New York Mets.”
A lot ink was spilled over the winter about what Soto’s contract meant for the Mets. Now that he’s lastly arrived, the ambiance feels totally different. There have been dozens of cameras following his each transfer Sunday, and followers lined up on the fences yelling, “Welcome to the Mets!” There was a noticeable buzz round camp as Soto took his first swings of spring.
How may followers not be excited? He’s Soto the savior. A generational participant, one of the crucial harmful hitters in baseball and one who may go down as probably the greatest ever. He’s the participant the Mets wanted to lastly get them to the promised land, proper?
Not so quick.
Soto was fast to dispel any notion that he alone can get the Mets to the World Collection. Whereas he understands that he’ll be a franchise face and a cornerstone of what the Mets hope is a profitable group for years to come back, he doesn’t appear to wish to be a focus of the group. If something, Soto appears to love the truth that he’s on a group with star energy.
“I never said I could be the guy,” Soto mentioned. “You need a whole team to go all the way. When you look around, teams that win the World Series have really good players with youth and everything. I think it takes more than one guy.”
A protracted-term contract usually carries management expectations and Soto isn’t naive to that. The very best participant on a group is usually anticipated to assist set the tradition, mentor younger gamers and preserve the group collectively throughout shedding streaks. However Soto doesn’t really feel that he must be a vocal chief. The Mets have already got just a few of these in Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo and Soto doesn’t wish to take over for them.
Soto got here up as a younger participant in a Washington Nationals clubhouse seeing gamers with quite a lot of totally different personalities in management roles, just like the fiery Max Scherzer, the flashy Bryce Harper, the business-like Stephen Strasburg and longtime veterans like Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick. In San Diego, he had Manny Machado, and final 12 months within the Bronx, the clubhouse belonged to Aaron Decide.
Leaders are available in many kinds.
“I feel like guys can lead in different ways,” he mentioned. “I’m just going to keep being myself, keep being who I am… I’m not going to try to take charge and be the leader and be the guy who’s rounding the whole team up. I’m here to be the same guy I’ve been since Day 1, just Juan Soto. Now, I’m in a different uniform, but I’m still the same guy.”
The identical man with the identical championship aspirations. Soto got here near profitable his second World Collection final 12 months with the Yankees. He was one of many few celebrity gamers that opted to not go to Los Angeles to play on the Dodgers’ tremendous group over the winter, displaying that the New York market nonetheless entices some, irrespective of how harsh the highlight can really feel.
Within the Mets, Soto sees a lineup deep sufficient to supply him safety. He particularly talked about hitting in entrance of Pete Alonso, saying the Mets talked about bringing again the free-agent first baseman a number of occasions when discussing their plans for the 2025 season.
“He’s one of the best pure power hitters in the league,” Soto mentioned. “We’re trying to have some of that protection.”
Soto is protected within the lineup and considerably insulated from the highlight. Few athletes can really escape it on this metropolis, however he’s comfy sufficient with out having to be the primary character. So long as he’s comfy being the centerpiece of the lineup, that’s sufficient for him and for his teammates.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply he can’t deal with enjoying in New York. It’s his baseball residence for the subsequent 15 years, and whereas this is perhaps his first 12 months in Queens, it’s not his first in New York.
“You’re in New York. You’re part of the city, it’s Broadway and everything,” Soto mentioned. “Everybody wants to come in and beat a New York team.”
