Juan Soto wants to be in the dynasty business
The Mets introduce Juan Soto at Citi Field as a new era of baseball begins in Flushing.
What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets officially introduced RF Juan Soto at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon (press conference)
Soto and the Mets have aspirations to become an eventual dynasty (MLB.com)
When asked, Soto told reporters that he has not spoken to any of his former Yankees teammates since the postseason ended
Hours before Soto signed with the club, owner Steve Cohen was worried that the Mets had lost the free agent sweepstakes (ESPN)
Steve Cohen told reporters on Thursday that the club is “still engaged” with 1B Pete Alonso in free agency (The Athletic)
Rumor Mill 💨
The Cubs are believed to be the “favorites” to acquire Astros OF Kyle Tucker, and are engaging with the Yankees in trade discussions surrounding CF/1B Cody Bellinger (MLB.com)
The Mariners are fielding a high volume of calls from teams interested in trading for RHP Luis Castillo (MLB.com)
The Padres have discussed potential trades for 2B Luis Arráez (San Diego Union-Tribune)
A new era of Mets baseball has begun ✍️
For now, at least, the world belongs to the New York Mets.
Thursday afternoon officially operated as the dawn of a new era of baseball in Flushing as the Mets introduced their biggest prize in the history of their franchise – Juan Soto.
After signing the 26-year-old superstar to record 15-year, $765 million contract on Sunday, the dream officially became a reality as Soto donned the orange and blue for the first time at Citi Field yesterday afternoon. And despite fantasizing about this moment for years since Steve Cohen purchased the club and having already started the celebration when the reports first broke on Sunday night, this was the moment that everything became real for a fan base and franchise starved for sustained success.
This is not about beating out the Yankees, this isn’t about the gaudy contract, it’s about one thing and one thing only and that is flipping the script. Steve Cohen himself said during this past season’s playoff run that his goal was to change the perception of this franchise, and what’s the one way to do that? By winning.
“I've been waiting for this for years,” Cohen said after the Mets clinched a trip to the NLCS this past October. “I wanted this place packed. I want to slay the negative Met fan perception and we're on our way to doing that. Let's keep it going.”
If the Soto signing and subsequent press conference tell you anything, it’s that the Mets are in the early stages of building a team that is looked at as an elite, perennial winner. And by the sound of it, one championship is only scratching the surface of what this franchise is trying to accomplish right now.
“The Mets is a great organization,” Soto told reporters on Thursday. “They have all of the ability to keep winning, to try to grow a dynasty. What you were seeing from the other side was unbelievable.”
Seriously, when is the last time you’ve ever heard the term “dynasty” in association with the New York Mets? Has it ever happened? Even once?
Now don’t get me wrong, the Mets have a long way to go to accomplish those dreams, let alone a single championship as they enter the 39th season of their long championship drought in 2025. But the fact that a player on this team — one of the great players in the entire sport — is seriously using the term “dynasty” when talking about this team, a sentiment that is being echoed by this owner, signifies a tectonic shift in the DNA of this franchise.
It has completely changed the way that people view the New York Mets, including a fan base that has always been characterized as lovable losers, underdogs and little brothers. But these are not underdogs – not anymore.
This franchise is officially armed with an owner who will stop at nothing to provide the resources needed to acquire any and every star free agent that you can dream of, paired with one of the brightest baseball minds in the entire sport with David Stearns leading the front office. Not to mention a core of players that currently includes Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor – two players that each finished in the top three in MVP voting in their respective leagues this past season – in addition to Mark Vientos, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Álvarez, along with a farm system that continues to build itself up year over year.
And we haven’t even mentioned a manager that led this team masterfully in his rookie campaign and got his team to within two games of the World Series, a significantly beefed up analytics department and now one of the most vaunted pitching labs in baseball.
The signing of Juan Soto, and whatever comes after, is the next phase of this Mets franchise becoming one of the premiere operations and winning machines in the sport of baseball. They don’t want to be the Yankees, they don’t want to be the Dodgers, they want to surpass them and leave them in the dust.
And while they’ve got a lot of work and winning to do before that can happen, Thursday signified the start of it all. A changing of the guard. A new era of baseball among the likes we’ve never seen before.
Around the League 🚩
The Rangers made their three-year, $75 million contract with RHP Nate Eovaldi official