After Juan Soto & Clay Holmes' red-hot start to Mets Spring Training, Justin Verlander's brother Ben teases Yankees fans

The acquisitions of players such as Juan Soto and Clay Holmes underlined what was a hugely successful offseason for the New York Mets. The two came over from the Mets' crosstown rival Yankees.

Both Soto and Holmes played starring roles in the Mets' first spring training game against the Houston Astros, as Soto hit a home run and Holmes pitched three perfect innings, inspiring the team to a comfortable 6-2 victory.

Highlighting the fact that both of the Mets' standout performers were plying their trade on the other side of New York last season, Justin Verlander's brother, analyst Ben Verlander, took a moment to tease Yankees fans as he reshared an X post by SNY about the Mets win on Saturday.

"Imagine Yankees fans reading this headline last year" Ben Verlander posted

Holmes spent four seasons with the Yankees and made the All-Star team twice (2022 and 2024) as a relief pitcher. However, he struggled in the second half of last season as he led the majors with 13 blown saves. He signed a three-year, $38 million contract with the Mets in December.

As for Soto, he came over on a record 15-year, $765 million deal after hitting a career-best 41 homers with 109 RBIs in his lone season with the Yankees.

Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza talks about how Juan Soto is settling into his new surroundings quickly

Arriving to Citi Field after signing his mega-deal, fans are looking forward to see how Juan Soto fits in with his new teammates, and whether he can build great chemistry with the rest of the team in time for the start of the regular season.

According to Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza, who shed some light on his first impressions of Juan Soto's arrival to the Mets clubhouse, that may well happen before even he would have initially expected.

"My first conversation with him (Juan Soto) was just 'be yourself,"' Mendoza said (7:10 onwards). "To give him credit, he was like 'hey man, I'm trying to fit in.' He's human, people have to realize that these guys, they're humans and they got feelings. What I'm seeing in the past few days is a guy that's very comfortable, is having fun."

"It's good to see, you watch him and he's smiling, he's making jokes with his teammates, he's competing out there, he's asking the right questions. I'm encouraged, to be honest with you, because I thought it was going to take a lot more time. What a great guy, and just watching him go about his business, his routine, his preparation, it's like 'wow."'

Heading into the new season, Mets fans will be hoping that Soto's excellent performance in the opening spring training game is a sign of many more good things yet to come.