In his massive contract, Juan Soto has an opt-out clause after 2029. If the New York Mets keep missing the playoffs, Soto might exercise it. Soto joined a team that won the NLDS and was aiming to build upon that success. But it didn’t, and the Queens team is at the bottom of the NL East(73-86), eliminated and without a playoff spot. So the slugger wants the front office to take charge during the offseason.
Just two years ago, the New York Mets were playing in the NLCS after beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the division series. They were supposed to build on that success in the coming seasons. Instead, the Mets have crashed and burned, missing consecutive postseasons. After last year’s disappointment, a roster overhaul was supposed to save the Mets. Now, with the season basically over for them, Juan Soto wants his team to be proactive in the offseason and plan ahead for 2027.
“We should go and get as much as we can; we need as much help as we can get,” Juan Soto told the New York Post, per SleeperMets on X. “It was a real tough year for us, so I think we have got to go out there and grab as much as we can.”
Ahead of the 2025 season, Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets that runs through the 2039 season. He can exercise an opt-out clause after the 2029 season. Since joining the Mets, Soto has not played in October. The last time he played a postseason game was in 2024, when Soto still played for the New York Yankees and reached the World Series. Soto went 5-for-16 in the 2024 World Series, batting .313, but the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Yankees.
After becoming a free agent, Juan Soto signed with the Mets. With a dominant 43-homer season (.263 BA and 105 RBI) in 2025, Soto established himself as one of the clubhouse leaders. Alongside Francisco Lindor, Soto also survived the roster overhaul that David Stearns pulled before the 2026 season. Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil all left the club.
The Mets signed Bo Bichette to a 3-year, $126 million deal to join the Soto-Lindor core. However, injuries and underperformance plagued the veteran core. Both Bichette and Lindor struggled with production at the plate. Early in the season, Bichette went through a stretch of 61 at-bats without an extra-base hit. The Mets also signed Jorge Polanco as part of the roster overhaul, but Polanco has spent most of his first season in Queens on the IL, suffering from Achilles bursitis. No player could fill the void Alonso left on the lineup.
Though Soto was formidable in the 108 games he played for the Mets (.274/.393/522 and .915 OPS), he was hampered by injuries. During the 2026 season, the Dominican landed twice on the injured list. He missed 15 games in April due to a right calf strain and then another month from late July to August due to a Grade 2 left calf strain.
When he returned from the month-long IL stint, the Mets had already become sellers at the trade deadline. Soto took responsibility for much of the Mets’ poor performance.
“It’s definitely not what I imagined in my head,” Soto told the NY Post. “There is nothing I can do other than blame myself. I have got to be better. I have got to be at the level to take us forward.”
In the new season, Juan Soto wants some new faces to join the existing core, alongside the younger stars, including Carson Benge and AJ Ewing. Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal can also become one of them if the Mets pursue him during free agency.
As for Soto, despite his team’s disappointing season, the slugger is scripting history.
Juan Soto joins exclusive club
At only 27 years old, Juan Soto is the best player in the Mets’ lineup, and the Mets’ disastrous season did not stop him from individual glory.
During the Mets’ 3-1 loss on Thursday, Soto went 0-for-3 and drew a walk in the third inning against the Texas Rangers. Juan Soto now has 271 home runs, 765 RBI, and 973 walks in his career. He has been struck out only 897 times.
Eric Cross of Rotoballer noted on X that only five MLB players in history have more than 250 homers and more walks than strikeouts before their 28th birthday. Juan Soto is one of them. The other players who share the same table are Albert Pujols, Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, and Jimmie Foxx.
Soto has more records before turning 28. Last week, he helped the Mets snap their five-game skid against the Philadelphia Phillies and hit his 270th home run. With the shot, he became only the fourth player in major league history to record at least 270 home runs and 100+ stolen bases before turning 28. The last one to achieve the same was Mike Trout. The other two players on the list are the legendary Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr.
Soto will be in action again on Friday, when the Mets play their last series of the season against the Washington Nationals.