{"id":575435,"date":"2026-02-16T11:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/575435\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:30:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:30:24","slug":"juan-soto-thrilled-by-mets-new-look-roster-and-chance-to-forget-about-all-the-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/575435\/","title":{"rendered":"Juan Soto thrilled by Mets\u2019 new-look roster \u2014 and chance to \u2018forget about all the drama\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 To Juan Soto, there isn\u2019t much of a mystery: The Mets, following a roster overhaul, have improved from last season, when they underachieved and missed the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe had a great team last year,\u201d Soto said Sunday upon reporting to spring training. \u201cThis year we have, I feel like, an even better team. It\u2019s a great feeling. Definitely I played with those guys last year, but it\u2019s a new year. We have forgotten about anything that\u2019s gone on last year. Anything that happens, we focus on this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those subtracted include Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Edwin D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n

The new lineup features Bo Bichette<\/a> and Jorge Polanco in addition to Soto and Francisco Lindor.<\/p>\n

Alonso\u2019s departure \u2014 he received a five-year deal worth $155 million<\/a> from the Orioles \u2014 might have the biggest impact on Soto, who hit directly ahead of the slugging first baseman in the lineup.<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Soto addresses reporters during his Feb. 15 press conference. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Even with Alonso\u2019s presence, Soto led MLB with 127 walks last season.<\/p>\n

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Bichette has been mentioned by manager Carlos Mendoza as a strong candidate to bat third, behind Soto.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have Bo \u2014 I trust him,\u201d Soto said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great hitter. He can hit home runs and he can hit for average, so I think he\u2019s great protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soto, as he prepares for his second season with the Mets after arriving on a record $765 million contract over 15 years, will be switching from right to left field<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a position he played early in his career with the Nationals and as recently as 2023 with the Padres.<\/p>\n

Mendoza broached the subject in recent weeks with Soto as the player prepared for left field in the upcoming World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cMendoza asked me if I am comfortable [in left] and I told him I\u2019m comfortable everywhere,\u201d Soto said. \u201cWhatever is going to help the team, I\u2019m open to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Soto indicated that at the time he agreed to the change the Mets were searching for outfield help and \u201cmost of the options\u201d were right fielders.<\/p>\n

The Mets pursued Kyle Tucker \u2014 who ultimately signed with the Dodgers<\/a> \u2014 before acquiring Luis Robert Jr.<\/a> from the White Sox to play center field.<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Soto doubles during the third inning of the Mets\u2019 Sept. 21 game. Robert Sabo for the NY Post<\/p>\n

It left the Mets with a vacancy in right field that might be filled by the organization\u2019s top position prospect, Carson Benge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard he\u2019s a great athlete,\u201d Soto said. \u201cHe can play center field and right field, but hitting-wise I haven\u2019t heard too much about him. We\u2019re going to see how we go through spring training, but I have heard nothing but good things about him so I am really excited to see what he brings to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Soto, as measured by Statcast, was near the bottom of MLB in range, at minus-12 outs above average (1st percentile).<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Soto fields a ball during the Mets\u2019 spring training session Feb. 15. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that defensive improvement is a goal following a season in which he finished third in the National League MVP voting with a .263\/.396\/.525 slash line with a career-best in homers (43) and stolen bases (38).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think defense is going to be one of the things that I am going to try to improve a little bit more in my game \u2014 try to bring it up to the level of the running game and the hitting,\u201d Soto said. \u201cTrying to bring it up there is definitely not easy, but we\u2019re going to work for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Post reported in November that Soto and Lindor had what was described as a chilly relationship.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks Mendoza indicated maybe the clubhouse was too \u201ccorporate\u201d last season.<\/p>\n

Soto was asked for his perception of the clubhouse culture last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s in the past \u2014 we forget about it,\u201d Soto said. \u201cWe focus on 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can the Mets prevent a recurrence of any clubhouse issues<\/a> this season?<\/p>\n

\u201cHave fun, forget about all the drama and everything,\u201d Soto said. \u201cFocus on the game and win some ballgames.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 To Juan Soto, there isn\u2019t much of a mystery: The Mets, following a roster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,88,226,1443,39,1087,227,1332,120,134,29,999,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,74,151,812,396],"class_list":{"0":"post-575435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bo-bichette","10":"tag-brandon-nimmo","11":"tag-carlos-mendoza","12":"tag-dodgers","13":"tag-edwin-diaz","14":"tag-francisco-lindor","15":"tag-jeff-mcneil","16":"tag-jorge-polanco","17":"tag-juan-soto","18":"tag-kyle-tucker","19":"tag-luis-robert-jr","20":"tag-mets","21":"tag-mlb","22":"tag-new-york","23":"tag-new-york-mets","24":"tag-newyork","25":"tag-newyorkmets","26":"tag-pete-alonso","27":"tag-spring-training","28":"tag-the-mets","29":"tag-white-sox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116080085519666452","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}