Ex-MLB star claims Juan Soto's "on par with Aaron Judge" performances for Yankees are great signs from Mets perspective

The New York Mets had an inspired postseason run in 2024, where they gave a tough fight to the eventual World Series winners, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the NLCS. The Mets are expected to build on their performance from last season after signing Juan Soto to an MLB-record $765 million deal in the offseason.

Following his record-breaking deal with the Mets, there have been talks of extra pressure on Soto to perform with his new team. However, former Mets star Todd Zeile feels Soto won't be too bothered by it after his stellar run with crosstown rivals the New York Yankees in 2024, during which he was on par with MLB superstar Aaron Judge.

In his conversation with the Mets, Zeile said:

"You never know how guys are going to (react) if they've been somewhere that haven't considered safe, I mean, there are a lot of places out there that still have scrutinous fans and want to win, and it's a rabid fan base. But the day-to-day of the press and the attention in New York is different than anywhere else, it's just the reality of it.

"So for him to have already done it on the other side of town and have a good year, you know, being the guy up there with Aaron Judge and kind of staying on par with Judge and his postseason accolades again. I think all of those things are great signs of what's to come here for him as a Met."

Juan Soto produced his career-high offensive numbers in his one season with the Yankees in 2024 and was a pivotal part of the team's run through to the World Series with captain Aaron Judge.

Former Mets pitcher not concerned with Juan Soto's leadership role

The New York Mets have several leaders in the clubhouse like Fransico Lindor and Brandon Nimmo and former Mets pitcher Adam Ottavino opined that the presence of Lindor and Nimmo will ease the pressure off Juan Soto.

He said:

"I would say between Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, those two, in particular, really stand out as kind of like the main leaders of the team the past couple of years, but they're very inclusive types of people.

"They gave everybody throughout the years and honestly like I think you know, Juan Soto, there's not going to be that pressure to be the best player and be the biggest leader on the team."

Despite winning the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019, Juan Soto is hungry for more postseason success and aims to win the World Series with the Mets after signing a 15-year deal.