The New York Mets fell flat in their chance to take the Subway Series finale on Sunday, then got some potentially bad news on new $765 million man Juan Soto.
Soto landed the biggest contract in MLB history this winter, picking the Mets over the New York Yankees after helping the Bronx Bombers reach the World Series last season. But Soto has struggled out of the gate with the Mets, culminating in a poor performance against his former team over the weekend.
The day after the series ended, a Yankees insider shared a potentially troubling report about Soto’s offseason decision.
Juan Soto May Regret Picking Queens Over the Bronx
In an episode of “The Michael Kay Show” on May 19, the longtime Yankees announcer said he spoke to many inside the Mets organization and learned that Soto is noticeably unhappy.
“People that I talked to on the Mets side, and they can deny it publicly, because, of course, that’s what they have to do, he is very, very glum around the clubhouse,” Kay said, via the New York Post. “He does not have a hop in his step. He does not smile much. I’m not gonna say he is unhappy. Because how can you be unhappy with a $765 million contract? But money is not a guarantee that you are gonna be comfortable somewhere.”
Kay added that Soto seems to have some immediate regrets about his decision to pick the Mets and their $765 million contract offer over staying with the Yankees — a decision he may have been forced into making.
“Why isn’t he happy? It comes down to this,” Kay said. “I’ll say it now, and it will be denied. Of course, it has to be denied. But I have talked to people that I respect. He wanted to return to the Yankees.”
Kay added that family pressured Soto into picking the Mets, but his regrets came to a head this weekend with the return to Yankee Stadium.
“[Returning to the Yankees] was his preference,” Kay said. “His family said, ‘You are going to the Mets.’ His family felt very comfortable around Alex and Steve Cohen. And they said, ‘You are going to the Mets.’ And he is a guy that listens to his family. So I think at this point, he is probably a bit down, pouting a bit.”
Juan Soto Called out for Lack of Hustle
Soto came under sharper scrutiny for an apparent lack of hustle several times in the Yankees series, an issue that came up again in his team’s loss to the Boston Red Sox on Monday when he hit a deep drive off the Green Monster but came out of the batter’s box slow and only ended up with a single.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after Monday’s loss that the team would be addressing the issue with Soto.
“We’ll talk to him about it,” Mendoza said, via MLB.com. “Tonight, obviously, if someone gets a hold of one and knows when he gets it, it’s Juan. He thought he had it. With the wind and all that, in this ballpark — anywhere, in any one, but particularly in this one with that wall right there — you’ve got to get out of the box. Yeah, we’ll discuss that.”
Mets Get Bad News on Juan Soto After Struggles in Subway Series