Juan Soto’s departure from the Yankees to the Mets already had New York fans talking, but the latest comments from Steve Cohen and Soto have only poured more fuel on the fire.
The Mets are sitting at 38-54 and staring at a fire sale at the trade deadline, a brutal backdrop for a team that spent last season unraveling and has followed that up with what the source described as a Colorado Rockies-esque performance in 2026. For Yankees fans, that has made the Soto storyline look even better in hindsight.
A big part of the noise has centered on Soto’s relationship with Francisco Lindor. Cohen was pushed by Mets fans to address it publicly, and he acknowledged that the talk was real last year before saying the dynamic has improved. That alone kept the issue in the spotlight, especially after Cohen had stayed quiet through plenty of Mets turmoil, including the firing of manager Carlos Mendoza.
Soto then added his own version of events when he spoke with MLB insider Will Sammon. Asked about Lindor, he said: "There were no issues last year, at all.
We didn’t have any beef or anything. Our relationship is getting better because it takes time ...
When you meet a girl, you don’t start kissing her right away."
That quote only made the whole thing sound stranger, and it reinforced the idea that the relationship did not begin smoothly. The source also pointed to the contrast with Soto’s time alongside Aaron Judge in the Bronx, where the fit was immediate and the Yankees surged to a fast start before reaching the World Series behind a marquee Soto moment.
For Yankees fans, the bigger takeaway is simple: the Soto move to Queens has not aged well for the Mets. Even with the Subway Series always capable of producing headlines, the broader picture has the Yankees feeling justified and the Mets looking like the team stuck answering uncomfortable questions.
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