Mike Francesa doesn\u2019t believe a word of the Juan Soto-Francisco Lindor reconciliation story, and he says the Mets don\u2019t either.<\/p>\n
Soto and Lindor told The Athletic on Friday<\/a> that reports of tension between them are overblown, with Lindor calling Soto \u201cmy brother\u201d and Soto comparing their relationship to a slow-building romance: \u201cWhen you meet a girl, you don\u2019t start kissing her right away.\u201d Owner Steve Cohen backed that up earlier in the week, confirming\u00a0a clash in 2025, while\u00a0telling the\u00a0<\/a>NY Post<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>that the two stars are \u201cgetting along much better.\u201d<\/p>\n Francesa says his own sources tell him something different.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think they get along at all,\u201d Francesa said on his eponymous podcast. \u201cEverything I\u2019ve heard all along is that they don\u2019t like each other. So they can say what they want. Just like last year, there wasn\u2019t any issues. Nonsense. This year, there\u2019s not any issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Lindor was, in Francesa\u2019s words, the \u201cgolden boy\u201d of the franchise before the Mets signed Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract that more than doubled Lindor\u2019s own $341 million deal.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was Lindor\u2019s team. He was the golden boy. The Cohens loved him, Cohen\u2019s wife loved him,\u201d Francesa said. \u201cAnd then they went out and brought in a guy who more than doubled his salary, which hit him right between the eyes\u2026 I don\u2019t know how Lindor is. If he\u2019s very sensitive, I don\u2019t know that stuff. What I do know is that he clearly felt this was his team, and then a guy came in who is not only a bigger star, but a much better hitter. Lindor\u2019s a good all-around player. Soto is a great hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in December, Francesa told his audience he\u2019d checked with his own sources and found that Lindor never called Soto to welcome him to the team, souring the relationship from the start, though Lindor has publicly said<\/a> the opposite happened. Francesa also claimed at the time that the Mets\u2019 separate rift between Lindor and Brandon Nimmo traced back to politics<\/a>, with the two players split over Donald Trump. Nimmo was traded to the Texas Rangers this past offseason for Marcus Semien.<\/p>\n The dysfunction has shown up in other corners, too. Soto missed nearly three weeks with a calf strain before returning to the lineup on April 22, in the middle of a 12-game losing streak. Asked before that game whether he\u2019d been checking in with teammates during the skid, Soto stunned Mets beat reporters<\/a> by admitting he hadn\u2019t spoken to a single teammate during a 12-game losing streak because \u201cthey\u2019ve been on the road most of the time.\u201d The Athletic later reported that<\/a> Mets players didn\u2019t see it as any real issue, but the answer went viral anyway, with Gary Sheffield Jr. noting<\/a> that it also seemed to confirm Lindor, the team\u2019s captain, doesn\u2019t talk much with the franchise\u2019s best player either.<\/p>\n