By any statistical measure, Juan Soto\u2019s first season with the Mets was a success.<\/p>\n
The superstar outfielder \u2014 who bolted from The Bronx to Queens on a historic 15-year, $765 million deal<\/a> \u2014 set career highs in several offensive categories, including home runs (43) and stolen bases (38) as he finished third in the National League MVP race.<\/p>\n Despite a slow start, Juan Soto enjoyed arguably the best season of his career in 2025 \u2014 his first with the Mets. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n But the four-time All-Star got off to a slow start<\/a>, sporting a .241 batting average with just three home runs and 12 RBIs through the end of April as Mets fans became restless<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Soto, 27, leaned on advice from a retired outfielder familiar with the weight of a massive contract in Queens: Carlos Beltran.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe shared that the same thing happened to him once when he was really struggling in New York,\u201d Soto said in an interview on \u201cSiendo Honestos\u201d with Katherine Hernandez<\/a>, as translated by The Post. \u201cEveryone was piling on and the pressure was intense. To get through it, he started carrying a card with all his stats written on it.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time he looked at it, he reminded himself: this is who I am as a player, not the version everyone else is trying to paint. That simple mental reset helped him break out of the slump.\u201d<\/p>\n Beltran can relate to the pressures of a historic contract with the Mets better than most.<\/p>\n Fresh off a historic 2004 postseason in which he hit eight homers for the Astros, Beltran signed a then-Mets record seven-year, $119 million deal.<\/p>\n Carlos Beltran spent six and a half seasons with the Mets, racking up five All-Star nods after signing a then-franchise record seven-year, $119 million pact. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n Despite making the All-Star team in 2005, Beltran set career lows in several major categories while battling injuries and one of the most gruesome on-field collisions in baseball history<\/a>.<\/p>\n The following season, however, Beltran kicked off an elite three-year stretch, averaging 33 homers and 113 RBIs while winning three consecutive Gold Gloves.<\/p>\n While injuries hampered Beltran during his final years in Queens, he established himself as one of the most impactful players in franchise history.<\/p>\n The Mets did not have to wait until 2026 to see an elite version of Soto.<\/p>\n Carlos Beltran currently works as an assistant to the Mets\u2019 president of baseball operations, David Stearns. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n Despite the Amazin\u2019s collapse that saw them miss the playoffs, Soto led the league in walks (127), on-base percentage (.396) and tied with Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz for the most stolen bases in the NL (38).<\/p>\n Soto became the first player in Mets history<\/a> to record a season of at least 40 homers and at least 30 steals. He also joined Barry Bonds and Jeff Bagwell as the only players in MLB history with a season of at least 40 homers, 30 steals and 100 walks.<\/p>\n Soto finished third in NL MVP voting behind winner Shohei Ohtani and runner-up Kyle Schwarber.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Beltran \u2014 now an assistant to Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns \u2014 marveled to The Post in May about Soto<\/a> as he made his highly anticipated Yankee Stadium return.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one wants to be booed,\u201d Beltran said. \u201cBut this was expected. This is a guy that last year did an incredible job for the Yankees. He was an asset for the organization. As a free agent, he signed with the Mets. I feel he was even expecting it himself.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Soto did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n In the midst of a transformative offseason that saw mainstays Pete Alonso and Edwin D\u00edaz leave in free agency<\/a> and fellow cornerstones Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil traded<\/a>, Soto \u2014 alongside Francisco Lindor \u2014 will play a crucial role in the Mets\u2019 success next season.<\/p>\n And even when he struggles, Soto can tap into his memory bank and keep cashing in on Beltran\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back, I\u2019d say that was the last piece of advice that truly made a difference for me,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By any statistical measure, Juan Soto\u2019s first season with the Mets was a success. The superstar outfielder \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[101073,7842,363,1189,369,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-379205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-carlos-beltran","9":"tag-juan-soto","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york-mets","12":"tag-new-york-yankees","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}