Losing will always put a strain on a clubhouse or a locker room, especially when that losing comes amidst a season that was supposed to have legitimate championship aspirations.
New York Mets superstar Juan Soto finally hinted that something was off about last season’s squad, which missed the postseason after an extended, three-and-a-half-month-long collapse.
“That’s in the past,” he said when asked if there was any carryover of those issues into 2026. “We forget about it. We focus on 2026.”
This is as close to an admission of an off-kilter clubhouse as we have gotten from a playing member of the 2025 Mets, which came after manager Carlos Mendoza appeared on the Michael Kay Show at the beginning of the month and called it “a corporate clubhouse.”
“Not that the guys didn’t like each other,” he continued. “They respected each other. They got along.”
It was a far cry from the tight-knit group that made a surprising run to the NLCS just one year earlier, and president of baseball operations David Stearns took drastic measures to overhaul the majority of the team’s leadership.
Brandon Nimmo, the longest tenured Met, was traded to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien. Franchise home run king Pete Alonso was allowed to walk to the Baltimore Orioles. Jeff McNeil was jettisoned to Sacramento to join the Athletics.
Those moves further strengthen the pre-existing notion that star shortstop Francisco Lindor is seen as the team’s captain, and perhaps others in last year’s clubhouse did not jive with that.
Soto fueled that speculation last season when he said that veteran outfielder Starling Marte was viewed by many as a captain. In November, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that Soto and Lindor had a “chilly” relationship.
Soto briefly pushed back on that Sunday.
“I think it’s a great relationship,” he said. “We talk all the time in the game and everything, and we help each other.”
Simply put, it’s a relationship that has to work for the Mets to find any semblance of success. Neither are going anywhere, with Lindor the franchise shortstop and Soto entering his prime in what is just the second season of a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract.
Lindor, who certainly has a better handle on the media, was far more decisive in describing his relationship with Soto.
“We’ve always pulled for each other,” he said. “We’ve always wanted what’s best for each other. Are we all best friends? That’s not how it works in the clubhouse. But we are friends. We’re good teammates. We care for each other. We love each other, and we want the best for each other.”
Perhaps a different dynamic in the clubhouse will help. There is a significant number of new faces in prominent roles, whether it’s the well-respected Semien at second, Bo Bichette at third, or Luis Robert Jr. in center.
“We have a lot of new faces here, guys that seem like they’re going to work hard and they’re going to do whatever it takes to win,” Lindor said. “Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. It’s all about winning and everybody pulling in the same direction.”
