David Stearns Drops Bizarre Juan Soto Take as Questionable Season Overshadows $765M Deal

The Mets are currently sitting second in the NL East, five games back of the Phillies. But their 10–15 record in August feels all too familiar for this club. With a payroll north of $300 million in 2025, fans weren’t expecting to see the team grinding just to stay in the playoff hunt. And that slump has put a spotlight on two big names. Manager Carlos Mendoza and superstar Juan Soto.

Under Mendoza, the Mets hit a rough patch with a seven-game losing streak. And Soto, currently the league’s highest-paid player, is batting just .248 with 32 homers. That are the numbers that pale in comparison to peers like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

When asked about Mendoza, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns backed his skipper, saying, “Oh yeah. Mendy’s doing a great job. He and I have a very good relationship. I think he’s the right person for this job.” But his comments on Soto were far less reassuring.

“This guy’s (Juan Soto) been really, really good. He’s demonstrated a continued desire to improve. He may steal 30 bases this year. There is a reasonable chance that he’s going to be a 30-30 player, maybe a 40-30 player. Certainly, that’s not what I expect is when we signed him… He probably got off to a little bit of a slower start than ever was anticipating. Certainly a slower start that he got off to last year across town… But this has been a really, really good year, an elite-level year,” Stearns shared his view on Soto in a podcast with the New York Post.

Well, Stearns’ defense of Soto feels shaky when you dig into the numbers.

For instance, through the first 106 games of 2025, Soto was batting just .185 with a .700 OPS and driving in 37 runs. Not exactly what you’d want from the league’s highest-paid star. But lately, he’s flipped the script.

Over his last 25 games, Soto’s been on fire in clutch spots, hitting .400 with a 1.156 OPS and 10 RBI. And riding on this late surge, this year, Soto’s slashing .251/.389/.490 with an .879 OPS, 32 homers, and 79 RBI in 131 games.

Solid but still a step back from his 2024 with the Yankees, when he hit .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs in 157 games.

However, with about 30 games left, there’s still time for Soto to pad the numbers and change the narrative. But with $765 million invested in him, the Mets front office and fans were hoping for instant magic, not a slow burn.

Soto’s off-field antics are also sending shockwaves

In New York’s sports media, it doesn’t take much for a quote to blow up. And Juan Soto just lit the fuse.

Reportedly, in an interview with the New York Post’s Mike Puma, Soto had nothing but praise for veteran outfielder Starling Marte. He said, “I feel like he’s actually the captain of the team.”

Well, that’s a bold statement considering the context.

Heading into 2025, a lot of fans were pushing for Francisco Lindor to be named the Mets’ official captain. A role the franchise hasn’t filled since David Wright retired in 2018. So while Soto’s words don’t take anything away from Lindor’s leadership, framing Marte as the true captain is bound to spark debate.

And at the very least, it highlights that leadership in the Mets’ clubhouse isn’t tied to just one guy. But given the sentiment around Lindor, Soto’s stance has definitely turn some heads.