Great Expectations

Much can be said about the New York Mets’ upward trajectory over the last six months.

Middling in May, the 2024 team caught fire at the right time, kept that flame alight through the dog days and deep into October, and then retooled the roster this winter, spearheaded by one of the more gob-stopping additions in league history in Juan Soto, who signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the team in December.

Soto, 26, arrived at Mets camp in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Sunday morning to great fanfare, as expected. The fan base is continuously pinching themselves to confirm this is all real. And per the many updates from PSL, it is. And it’s spectacular.

“I’ll never say I can be the guy,” Soto said, offering his opinion on whether he could be the player to take this team over the proverbial hump and back to the World Series. “I’ll say it’s a whole team. You need a whole team to go all the way. When you look around teams that win a World Series, it’s teams that have really good players, teams that have experience, youth, everything. So I think it takes more than one guy. And when you see the Mets and the roster and what they have in the farm system, I think they have a really good chance to be on it for a long time. We just gotta show it.”

Based on the sentiments shared at his first spring presser as a uniformed member of the Mets, it appears Soto is fully prepared to be more than just a source of production on the lineup card.

“Whoever they want me to talk to, I will be open to help,” Soto told the media corps assembled at Clover Park. “Those guys are a really talented group and they are here for a reason so I’m here to keep learning from them, to keep learning how they play the game as the Mets and try to help them to go all the way. That’s my goal: come here to add to the team. Add as much as I can.”

This truly is just the tip of the iceberg. As the newly-minted Mets’ superstar intimated, one player doesn’t make a winning ballclub. We saw that last year, just as we’ve seen it play out in this game for a century. It takes 26-plus. It takes a full buy-in from the guys on the field, the coaching staff, the front office, the research and development team, everyone; it takes a village. And over the last couple of calendar years, these Mets have shored up nearly every facet of the organization with that mindset directly at the forefront.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns got a taste of what winning in New York could be like last season, and one could argue his measured, never-too-high-or-too-low approach through the tumultuous journey to magic in 2024 was the driving force behind that ride. His objective this winter has never wavered from keeping this club competitive and staying the course that owner Steve Cohen put forth when he took over the club in November 2020: sustainable success.

With the moves made this winter, plus the addition of a generational player in Soto to the already-potent mix in Flushing, the expectations are high, naturally. But, as we all know, it’s 162 for a reason and anything can happen over the course of that trek.

“We gotta play baseball. We’re here to win a championship. That’s the goal,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said earlier this week. “How do we manage it? By taking care of the little things. By taking one day at a time, not looking too far ahead. That’s how we do it.”

Well said, skip. It’s the little things that are done now, in February, and every day ahead moving forward that get you across the oasis that is a full MLB season. Keep those vibes up through camp. Stay focused during those crisp April nights when it’s too cold to feel your hands on the bat. Get warm with the weather in May (we know how that story goes). Lean on the foundation that’s being built in Florida as we speak to carry you through those dog days of summer.

Then, hopefully, all that work (and wins; you need those) will lift this group into those cold autumn nights that matter the most. Ultimately, one game at a time is the only course of action.

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