The Mets Paid Juan Soto $765 Million... Just to Finish in Last Place?

The New York Mets are in last place. Let me say that again for the people sitting in the cheap seats...

LAST. PLACE.

And before everybody on sports radio starts screaming, "Trade Juan Soto!"... can I ask one simple question? If Juan Soto wasn't on this team, where exactly do you think the Mets would be instead?

The First Place spot? No.

The Wild Card spot? No.

They would still be in last place, but they would just be a whole lot uglier while sitting there.

Soto has done his job. The guy was an All-Star starter in 2026 despite spending time on the Injured List. In only 78 games, he's hitting .290 with 21 home runs, 51 RBIs, 44 runs scored and seven stolen bases. Those aren't the numbers of a problem. Instead, those are the numbers of a guy looking around the clubhouse and wondering what this place is supposed to be.

The problem isn't Juan Soto. The problem is that the Mets somehow took one of the greatest hitters on the planet and turned him into the most expensive passenger on the Titanic.

Remember, this is a guy who already won a World Series in Washington. He hit next to Aaron Judge with the Yankees without a single issue. He played with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. in San Diego. No drama. No soap opera. No reality show. Yet then he arrives in Queens, and suddenly we're watching The Real Housewives of Citi Field.

Reports have been floating around all season that Soto and Francisco Lindor haven't exactly been finishing each other's sentences. Steve Cohen even addressed the rumors recently. Notice something funny? He didn't say there was never a problem. He basically said, "It's better now." That's billionaire-owner language for, "Nobody has flipped over the post-game buffet this week."

Lindor has been the face of this organization since the Mets traded for him and handed him a massive extension. The plan was simple: Build around Lindor. But then Soto showed up. On paper, it looked like Batman and Superman. Instead, it seems to have turned into Batman vs. Superman.

Nobody is winning. Not the fans. Not the clubhouse. And definitely not the standings. So now the Mets have a decision to make.

Lindor has 10-and-5 rights, meaning he can veto any trade, and he has publicly said that he doesn't want to leave. That's great, but baseball doesn't care about feelings. It cares about winning, and right now, the Mets couldn't win a game of musical chairs with two people.

Here's the reality: Lindor is getting older, and Soto is entering the prime of his career. If the Mets truly believe these two can't coexist, then moving Soto would be the easier move because every contender in baseball would be lining up to make an offer.

Would I trade Juan Soto? Not a chance. Instead, I'd rather figure out why a team with this much talent plays like they met each other in the parking lot 20 minutes before the first pitch. Because here's what drives me crazy: People keep acting like Juan Soto is the reason the Mets are in last place. No. He's one of the few reasons they're even watchable.

If you take Soto off this roster, then the Mets are still in last place. They'll just score fewer runs while doing it. That's not solving the problem. That's putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg.

The Mets don't need another superstar. They need chemistry. They need leadership. They need somebody to figure out why every superstar who walks through the clubhouse suddenly becomes part of a daytime soap opera instead of a championship contender. Until that changes, the only thing the Mets are winning is the award for "Most Expensive Reality Show in Baseball." And as the host of NYS Sports Loud Mouth, I appreciate all the material. I'm just not sure Mets fans appreciate living through it.