NY Yankees, Mets: What’s ahead following first Subway Series matchup
After the Yankees took two out of three in the first Subway Series in 2025, what can they and the Mets expect before their July rematch.
The similarities between Carlos Beltran and Juan Soto are indisputable.
Both players agreed to contracts that were the largest in Mets history at the time — Soto at $765 million heading into 2025 and Beltran at $119 million in 2005. When they signed those deals, they were around the same age: Soto at age 26 and Beltran at age 27.
And they entered Flushing at the heights of their game. Soto, who is regarded as a generational hitter, hit a career-high 41 home runs, drove in 109 runs and led the Yankees to their first World Series trip since 2009 a season ago. Beltran, the five-tool center fielder, registered 38 home runs and 104 RBI in a season split between the Royals and Astros in 2004.
The Astros’ postseason run came up short in the NLCS but it was not because of Beltran, who had one of the best postseasons of the modern era, slashing .435/.536/1.022 with eight home runs, 21 runs, 14 RBI and six stolen bases in 12 games.
Those commonalities give the Mets a valuable asset in Beltran as Soto works through his first season with the Mets and a record contract in tow. Beltran is in his second season as a Mets special assistant to the president of baseball operations, David Stearns, and a source of guidance and support for the organization’s players.
“It’s a learning process, believe it or not, even though he has played in New York,” Beltran told NorthJersey.com earlier this week in Boston. “You need to adapt to a new team. You need to adapt to a new ball club, new fan base. Sometimes it takes time. There’s no doubt that Juan Soto is a special player. He proved it this offseason. Last year with the Yankees, he put a great, MVP (type) season.
“Signing with the Mets and what we have here, the type of players that we have, adding him, there’s no doubt that he adds so much value to our ball club. In the process where he is right now, there’s no doubt that what he’s going through, in October, we will not remember it.”
Carlos Beltran: Learning to struggle
Beltran also knows what it’s like to struggle in the wake of a massive transition and big contract. His first season in New York was one of his worst. He posted a .744 OPS with 16 home runs, 78 RBI and 83 runs.
The outfielder was with his third team in two seasons and scuffled for about a month stretch after the All-Star break when he batted .217 with seven home runs, 15 RBI and 17 runs in 27 games.
Soto’s early struggles are relative. He enters Friday with a .804 OPS — the worst mark of his career — with eight home runs and 21 RBI but leads the team in walks (39) and runs (33) in 49 games.
“A lot of times when they don’t feel good, there’s a lot of chasing, there’s a lot of bad results,” Beltran said. “In this case, he’s patient enough to recognize the strike zone, it’s just that right now the ways he’s connecting the ball is not like we have seen in the past. With that being said, there’s no doubt that he’s seeing the ball well.”
After a rocky first season in Flushing, Beltran would go on to post one of his best campaigns of his career in 2006 with career highs in home runs (41) and RBI (116). That season, he won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and finished fourth in MVP voting.
Despite spending 20 seasons in the major leagues, Beltran said he felt like he “never figured out the game of baseball” and there was a point in his career when he felt he had forgot how to play the sport.
“In my case, when you’re not getting the results, I lost my confidence a little bit and I lost my confidence just because maybe I was trying too hard,” Beltran said. “Maybe because my thought process was focused on the result instead of let me put a quality at-bat right here, let me focus on seeing the ball, let me stay in the middle of the field. When I got out of that, I was a mess.”
Yet Beltran managed to piece together a career worthy of Hall of Fame consideration. With 435 home runs, 1,587 RBI, 563 doubles, 312 stolen bases and 1,582 runs.
Juan Soto: He’s not far off
In January, Beltran finished 4.7 percent votes away from being elected into the Hall of Fame on his third try.
In Carlos Mendoza’s view, having a former player of Beltran’s caliber around the team has been extremely valuable.
“Just to have him around and share the knowledge and the experiences and the way he sees the game, whether you’re going good, whether you’re going through struggles, how to develop routines, it’s a different perspective, not only for position players, pitchers, young players, veteran players,” Mendoza said. “He’s got a lot to offer and I’m glad that he’s continue to help us.
Now, Beltran can be a big asset for another potential Hall of Famer in Soto. He sees a player who’s rough patch has been put under the microscope given his massive contract. When Beltran earned that contract with the Mets, he said the focus shifts to putting together “quality at-bats” once the deal is settled.
And the former Mets outfielder believes Soto is not that far off.
“I know that he works extremely hard. His preparation is elite and there’s no doubt that when he takes the field, the mentality is to help the ball club,” Beltran said. “Just right now he’s going through a situation where things are not working for him. That doesn’t mean that it will stay like that. He’s such a good player.”