Mets' Juan Soto buys Brett Baty a $92,000 Chevy Tahoe as a thank-you for No. 22
(L-R) Mets infielder Brett Baty and outfielder Juan Soto during spring training workouts. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT LUCIE, Fla. — For six years, as he crisscrossed the country on his pro baseball journey, Brett Baty has rolled around in the same car he has driven since high school: a 2016 Toyota 4Runner, which racked up 150,000 miles along the way.
As he drove out of the players’ lot at Mets spring training Thursday, however, he had a new ride, courtesy of Juan Soto: a 2025 Chevy Tahoe that cost $92,000.
Soto bought Baty the luxury SUV as a thank you for giving up his desired jersey number, No. 22. So Soto kept the same digits he’s always worn and Baty switched to No. 7.
Gifts are a normal part of such a transaction between new teammates. Soto found out that the Tahoe was “the car of his dreams” via a totally normal, not-at-all-planted conversation on the topic that included Baty and traveling secretary Edgar Suero.
“So I made sure he got it,” Soto said. “There’s some guys who don’t like to give away their numbers and everything, but he actually had no excuses or anything. He just gave it away to me. I just made sure he got something that he’s going to appreciate.”
Baty said: “It’s amazing. For him to be able to do something like that, I couldn’t be more grateful. I’m just really excited that he’s on our team and I get to learn from him.”
Soto initially reached out to Baty when he signed with the Mets — 15 years, $765 million — to say thanks. His text included, according to Baty, the note: “Hey, I’m going to take care of you. Don’t worry about it.”
The price Soto paid represented 0.18% of the average annual value of his contract.
“I was hoping something was going to happen, but I wasn’t expecting anything,” Baty said. “That was above and beyond.”
Baty began to wonder this week. “It was kind of fishy, too. Edgar asked me for my car insurance [Wednesday],” he said. “Hmm, that’s a little strange. So I figured something was coming, but I didn’t expect that at all. That was amazing.”
Extra bases
Soto, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso will play in the Grapefruit League opener Saturday against the Astros . . . Alonso was slow to get up but eventually OK after taking a ball off his eye during fielding drills . . . Sean Manaea threw two innings of live batting practice, his first time facing hitters in camp . . . Jose Siri hit a long drive off Manaea, yelled and flipped his bat, but the ball bounced off the leftfield wall. Other players ragged on him for it . . . A special guest observing the workout: former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. He visited with, among others, Mark Vientos, one of his Roc Nation clients . . . Now hanging in the Mets’ clubhouse: a massive banner congratulating Lindor and Edwin Diaz, “Team PR,” on winning the team’s fantasy football league. Also featured, in smaller photos, were the brains behind the winners: assistant strength and conditioning coach Tanner Miracle and rehab coordinator Josh Bickel . . . The morning team-wide meeting: an introduction to “Skyline,” their proprietary, in-house database that allows players to access analytics, video and other information.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
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