Roger Rubin: Juan Soto will be here for awhile but the Mets' losing ways can't be
Mets' Juan Soto walks back to the dugout after fouling out to end the third inning against the Boston Red Sox at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Although it’s hard to imagine anyone other than the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani winning the 2026 National League MVP if this season continues to play out as it has, you also can pretty much make bank that Juan Soto is going to finish high in the voting totals. The Mets slugger has been exceptional while the club’s season has gone to pieces around him.
As the Mets embarked on another embarrassing game, Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the surging Red Sox at Citi Field — a defeat where they managed three hits and fell to 16 games under .500 — Soto’s numbers couldn’t be ignored. He sported an impressive .297/.412/.576 slash line which put him atop all NL hitters in OPS (.989) and the metric wRC+ (168, where the league average is 100). Among qualified players, his 0.28 home runs per game ranked third in the NL behind Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber and Colorado’s Hunter Goodman.
“Having the team win — that’s always the top goal — we come here everyday and are playing to win,” Soto told Newsday. “When you lose, it’s just disappointment. . . . It’s just bad because the team didn’t accomplish what you set out to help it do. It’s always good to have a good game — you want that — but when you can’t win there’s nothing but disappointment.”
Kansas City star catcher Salvador Perez, in town earlier this week when the Mets hosted the Royals, offered a window into what it’s like to play outstanding baseball for a terrible team. In 2021, Perez led all of MLB in home runs (48) and RBIs (121) and KC finished 14 games under .500.
“It should have been a season to feel great about with 48 home runs and 100-something RBI, but we didn’t make the playoffs and that takes away a lot,” Perez told Newsday. “Having a season like that is so much better when you make the playoffs. You feel like something good (happened) for the team and you were a big part of it. . . . The goal is to make it to the playoffs and win everything as a team.”
“I can’t say it was a wasted season because there was a lot of good things,” Perez added. “It’s good being compared to Hall of Fame people. It’s good to have the (season) records. It’s good to pass Hall of Famers on the (all-time) list. But it would have been special if all that went along with a (postseason).”
Soto signed his 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets after the 2024 season to play for the perennial contender that owner Steve Cohen was imagined to be building and now will almost surely miss the postseason for the second straight year with the star in uniform.
“Personal goals are (fine), but the team goals — make the playoffs, win championships — that should be more,” Soto said. “That’s why we make decisions to sign with certain teams, because you want to be successful as part of a team, not the personal things. We are always looking for the best option, to have success as part of a team. When you don’t get it, you cannot help but feel disappointed.”
For the most part, Soto has been a good soldier as the team has crumbled, trying to be optimistic and light on criticism.
Before Saturday’s loss, he was more focused on his feelings when the Mets win.
“If we win the game and I don’t have my best or I don’t play good, I (come away) happy because we (accomplished) what we wanted to do,” he said. “It can kind of even be a sense of relief. You feel better that even though you couldn’t come through that day, the team won and you end up feeling great.”
Perez echoed that sentiment when he said, “It doesn’t matter what you do — you could hit four homers — but if we lose that’s all of us. We all lose. I can go 0-for-4, but if we win everyone in the (clubhouse) is happy.”
Soto has had plenty of good games paired with bad results already.
In games where he hit a home run the Mets are 10-9. When he had five total bases, the Mets were 6-5. If he got three RBIs, the team was 1-1. Or three hits? They’re 1-1 again.
Perez said, “I know it’s hard when you can go 5-for-5 or hit three home runs but there’s nothing to celebrate because it comes in a loss. . . . Everyone has some personal goals and wants to play well, but you want to play the playoffs and try to win it all.”
Perez’s 15-year career likely has him bound for the Hall of Fame. When asked about Soto, he seemed almost awe-struck.
“Soto is one of the best and it’s crazy how young he is,” he said of the 27-year-old. “He’s healthy. If he stays healthy, he could be a guy who hits 700 homers. I think we’re all going to keep watching him for a lot of years.”
But if they are to be happy years with the Mets, they cannot be ones like this.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
