NEW YORK, NY — Juan Soto touched down in Port St. Lucie, Florida, earlier this week to officially begin his new reign in orange and blue.
And from the looks of it — reporting to Clover Park, the New York Mets’ Spring Training complex, after signing a ground-breaking 15-year/$765 million deal with the organization over the offseason, the largest contract in professional sports history, the 26-year-old superstar, hailing from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic — seems to be enjoying each minute in new threads, while soaking it all in.
Juan Soto talks with Francisco Lindor, Luisangel Acuña and Ronny Mauricio pic.twitter.com/hswz6ET8q7
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 17, 2025
“It’s been great,” said Soto on his first days of Spring Training as a Met, highlighting the Latin presence in the clubhouse. “For me, when I started looking around the roster and everything, we have a lot of Latin players.”
“I didn’t realize that and then right when I got here, I was like, ‘oh, they actually have a really good Latin community in here.’ It’s exciting you know, a lot of guys that know where we come from and how many things we gotta go through…
And now, we are here on the biggest stage — it’s really cool to see it.”
Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor would make a deadly power play combo 🤣 pic.twitter.com/3osdk2ycCL
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 18, 2025
The Mets’ Latino contingency, led by manager Carlos Mendoza (Barquisimeto, Venezuela), features Soto (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), Francisco Lindor (Caguas, Puerto Rico), Mark Vientos (Dominican-Nicaraguan), Francisco Álvarez (Guatire, Venezuela), Starling Marte (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), Edwin Díaz (Naguabo, Puerto Rico), Pete Alonso (grandfather from Spain), José Siri (Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic), Luisangel Acuña (Caracas, Venezuela), and Ronny Mauricio (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic), among others.
Alex Cohen, Steve Cohen’s wife, who is of Puerto Rican descent, growing up in Washington Heights, NY, and Harlem, NY, has played a massive role in the ‘Latino Mets’ coming to fruition – Image Credit: Hector Beauchamp/Latino Sports
Outside of owner Steve Cohen’s large wallet and David Stearns, president of baseball operations, maneuvering his way into making the moves he sees best feasible for the organization — the Mets’ Latin presence comes in a direct result to the hard work Alex Cohen, Steve Cohen’s wife, and co-owner of the Mets — has done in creating an authentic, comfortable, and welcoming atmosphere for Latin athletes and their respective families.
A family-first culture.
“I came here to add to the team, definitely add as much as I can,” Soto said. “Bringing the good vibes and good energy to help the team go all the way.”
Juan Soto lines one and taps Francisco Alvarez on the head 🤣 pic.twitter.com/dEkhcuvmA1
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 19, 2025
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Bill Coppola
February 21, 2025 at 1:29 pm
Very informative piece. The abundance of Latino players and the people who make up the Mets organization will take them to the next level and bring a championship to NY. Excellently written!