After signing a record-breaking $765 million contract to hitch the New York Mets, Juan Soto has thanked new teammate Brett Baty for permitting him to put on No. 22 by gifting him a model new Chevy Tahoe. The trade befell throughout Mets spring coaching in Port St. Lucie, as Soto handed Baty the keys to a brand new black Tahoe valued at wherever from $60-90,000.
As shared by the New York Publish, it had been written into Soto’s contract with the Mets that he would put on the No. 22, which grew to become central to his id as an All-Star with the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees. That provision got here on the expense of Brett Baty, the Mets’ first-round Draft decide in 2019, who had been sporting No. 22 and needed to concede and take the No. 7 as an alternative.
Soto, nonetheless, made certain that Baty didn’t go unrewarded for permitting him to put on No. 22, giving him a black Tahoe with the message “Thanks for #22” written on the again window.
“We did our sources and tried to guarantee that’s a automobile he likes,” Soto advised reporters. “He was speaking with one in every of our guys and he was letting him know that it was the automobile of his goals and all the things … I made certain he received it.”
Throughout his introductory press convention in December, Soto had defined why the No. 22 was very personally vital to him, and why it had been necessary sufficient for him to incorporate the quantity as a provision in his contract with the Mets.
“Twenty-two is the primary quantity I had once I made it to the large leagues,” Soto stated. “It was necessary to me. When the Nationals gave me that quantity, I used to be actually pleased, actually excited. That was the primary quantity I’ve ever wore and I’m very happy to maintain embracing that quantity.”
The No. 22 is a crucial quantity to the Mets as effectively, because it was worn by each gamers in franchise historical past to have received World Sequence MVP. Donn Clendenon wore No. 22 on the Mets’ fabled 1969 workforce, and Ray Knight used the quantity on their championship 1986 workforce.
