Francisco Lindor reveals what makes Juan Soto an “elite, elite” talent

New signing Juan Soto will suit up for the New York Mets for the very first time on Thursday when the team starts their MLB season against the Houston Astros.

Soto was the biggest move of the offseason, signing a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. He leaves behind the New York Yankees and will be expected to hit the ground running in the first year of his MLB-record deal.

He joins shortstop Francisco Lindor in a big-money batting lineup for the Mets in 2025. Now 39 years since the Mets’ most recent World Series title, the pressure is on Soto to perform at Citi Field and Lindor has high expectations for the new arrival.

“He’s elite. I’ve seen elite players. But he’s elite elite,” Lindor told GQ. “Very few people have that presence, and he’s got it. He deserves every penny.”

“I feel good, I definitely believe that we have a postseason team,” he responded, when asked about the team’s ambitions for the season. “But life taught me that just because we’re good on paper, it doesn’t mean teams can’t come in and roll through us.”

How much is Francisco Lindor’s contract with the Mets?

Francisco Lindor has been with the Mets since 2021 after picking up four MLB All-Star nods with the Cleveland Guardians. When he arrived, Lindor was a statement signing with the Mets and he put pen to paper on a mammoth deal of his own.

Ahead of the 2021 season Lindor and the Mets agreed a ten-year, $341 million contract that put him in the highest echelon of earners in the entire MLB. However that incredible deal has come with drawbacks for Lindor, who admitted that he still struggles to come to terms with his enormous wealth.

“I hate it, that people know what I have,” he explained. “They go on the internet and they find my house. I have people coming up to me like, ’Oh, you get paid this.’ I’m like... shit.“

“But my sister don’t have money, my nieces don’t have money. It’s me and my wife that have money. So it is very tough for me to have something that is going to get put on display. I still buy nice things and I walk around with nice things. It’s just like, man, I have a car that costs more than my sister’s house.”

Last year Lindor was a key part of the Mets team that finished 3rd in the East and made it all the way to the National League’s Championship series, losing to eventual MLB champions the LA Dodgers. If Lindor and Soto can find form this year and take the team to a first World Series triumph since 1986, it’ll have been money well spent for owner Steve Cohen.

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