PORT ST. LUCIE — Aaron Boone had a message for Juan Soto forward of his first season with the Mets.
“I informed him, ‘You look terrible in that uniform,’” the Yankees manager said Monday at Clover park ahead of the Subway Series exhibition game at Clover Park.
The Yankees and Mets might be more intertwined than ever this season. They aren’t simply crosstown rivals, they’re each respectable contenders of their leagues and acquainted faces dot each dugouts.
Throughout batting apply, former Mets common supervisor Omar Minaya, now a senior advisor to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, caught up with quite a few former colleagues in Port St. Lucie, together with baseball ops boss David Stearns. Mets supervisor Carlos Mendoza caught up with Luis Rojas, a former skipper in Queens who now coaches with the Yankees. Assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel and catching coordinator Glenn Sherlock each hung out teaching with the Yankees.
Even the Opening Day battery for the Amazin’s will characteristic two former Yankees with right-hander Clay Holmes — a more in-depth within the Bronx — making his first common season begin in a Mets uniform with Luis Torrens behind the dish.
Monday, within the spring coaching finale, former Mets right-hander and Lengthy Island native Marcus Stroman pitched to Soto, the previous Yankees famous person who departed the Bronx for Queens in December, leaving the pinstripes behind for a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. A packed crowd of greater than greater than 8,000 followers greeted Soto with a mixture of loud boos and resounding cheers.
“It was a lot of cheers out there,” Soto mentioned. “I was happy for the fans that cheered for the players, and I’m going from there.”
Whereas the Mets and their followers have gotten used to the sight of Soto in orange and blue, it was new for a lot of. Whereas there could be sick will between the 2 fanbases, there definitely isn’t any animosity between the 2 groups. Soto helped the Yankees win a pennant final 12 months and was a key driver of a prolific offense. Naturally, Boone and the Yankees nonetheless worth the contributions to the group he made throughout his lone season with the crew.
“Juan was great for us, but just as important, he was a great guy in our room, great guy in our clubhouse,” Boone mentioned. “So honestly, it was actually really good to see him and just catch up for a minute. But yeah, terrible in that uniform.”
This was the primary time Boone had talked to the 26-year-old famous person since he signed with the Mets. Since then, extra particulars have been revealed about Soto’s controversial cross-borough determination. He left extra money on the desk with the Yankees as a result of he sees the Mets as a extra sustainable winner long-term.
Yankee followers may balk on the concept of the Mets being sustainable, whereas Mets followers are in all probability nonetheless making an attempt to wrap their heads across the idea.
“I think we’re in a good spot — in a really good spot,” Soto mentioned. “I think we have a really talented group. We have a lot of guys, we have a lot of outfielders, we have a lot of infielders, so I think we are really loaded as a team. Can’t wait to see these guys going out there.”
Nonetheless, it was a pleasant reunion in a 6-6 tie.
“It’s a different feeling facing those guys after what we went through last year,” Soto mentioned. “It was a really fun experience because you already know their minds, their mindset and how they are.”
Rivalries principally exist for the followers, however that hasn’t at all times been the case with the Yankees and the Mets. With the Yankees’ illustrious historical past, it’s been onerous for Mets gamers, personnel and even possession to not look throughout the dugout and spot sharp disparities within the organizations prior to now. However there’s a mutual appreciation for the place every franchise is true now.
The Yankees and Mets have been each overwhelmed by the identical crew final fall, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Each groups acted aggressively within the offseason, infusing their rosters with high-end expertise.
However it’s the Mets who ended up with probably the most elite participant in the marketplace, Soto. The animosity amongst followers nonetheless exists. It’s New York, in any case, a proud metropolis with a wealthy baseball historical past, and a wealthy historical past of screaming about baseball. If something, this Grapefruit League recreation was only a warmup for this season’s six-game Subway Collection.
Come Could 16, the principle occasion when the 2 face off towards each other at Yankee Stadium. Soto is bracing himself for the day Yankee followers get to let him know the way they actually really feel about him now.
“Yankees fans can surprise you with anything,” Soto mentioned. “So I’m expecting the worst.”
