Outfielder Juan Soto joined the New York Mets this offseason as a four-time All-Star who earned a World Collection ring and 5 Silver Slugger Awards earlier than he put pen to paper on a 15-year, $765M contract that could reportedly exceed $800M complete and included a $75M signing bonus, an opt-out after 5 years and no deferred cash.
Many already view Soto as a generational expertise, however the 26-year-old made it identified whereas talking with reporters on Sunday that he feels he can enhance “each side of my recreation” forward of and through his first season with the Mets.
“The operating half is large for me,” Soto defined, as shared by Alex Smith of SNY. “I’ve to be higher baserunning and preserve enhancing my protection. I’ve been so shut for the Gold Glove, so I attempt to be higher each day, yearly, so I can get nearer and nearer to that.”
After all, the Mets will probably be on the lookout for Soto to be greater than only a dynamic all-around participant after he inked his historic deal. Curiously, one unnamed Nationwide League scout urged back in December that the Amazins might have anyone similar to unofficial group captain Francisco Lindor or slugger Pete Alonso “to maintain Soto in line.” Truthful or not, a notion sparked by such a take is that Soto could lack management qualities typically desired for anyone on such an enormous contract.
“I discovered plenty of issues [from former teammates],” Soto stated on Sunday. “I can’t even inform what number of issues these guys have [taught] me. However so much was management, how one can be a pacesetter in that clubhouse in your individual means. …They taught me how one can do it in my very own means. Not solely that, however via the sport and the way you deal with your self on and off the sphere, there are such a lot of issues these guys have been capable of educate me and present me how one can deal with myself.”
Roughly 12 months in the past, some members of the baseball group thought the Mets have been basically punting on the 2024 marketing campaign following what was seen as a somewhat uninspiring offseason. The membership in the end accomplished a visit to the Nationwide League Championship Collection, the place New York fell to the eventual World Collection champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Mets tied for fourth among the many betting favorites at +1200 odds to win this 12 months’s Fall Traditional. Evidently, the expectation is that Soto will assist the Mets finish their 38-year World Collection drought sooner somewhat than later.
“I really feel like guys could be a chief in several methods,” Soto stated in regards to the strain related to being the highest-paid participant on a group that performs house video games within the nation’s largest sports activities market. “I’m simply going to maintain being myself, preserve being who I’m and attempt to lead my means. I’m not going to alter something, I’m going to maintain being the identical man. That’s what they introduced me over for, to be the identical man I’ve been since day one.”
