Inside The Mets

Sean Manaea Makes His Opinion of Juan Soto's 'Crazy' Mets Contract Extremely Clear

New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea got honest about teammate Juan Soto's historic MLB contract.

Grant Young

Oct 13, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea (59) speaks to the media before game one of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Oct 13, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea (59) speaks to the media before game one of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
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On December 8, the New York Mets signed superstar slugger Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 contract, which is the biggest contract in sports history.

Despite this absolutely massive signing, the Mets weren't done improving their roster this offseason. On December 23, it was announced that New York had also re-signed left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea to a three-year, $75 million deal after Manaea emerged as the Mets' ace in his lone season with the team in 2024.

Manaea made a January 1 appearance on Sirius XM's MLB Network Radio. And at one point in the episode, he made his feelings very clear about Soto's contract.

"It's a crazy thing. Obviously, it's a huge contract," Manaea said of Soto's deal, per an X post from MLB Network Radio. "But if there is... anyone worthy of a contract like that, it's Juan Soto."

He then added, "I played with him in San Diego in '22, and you could just tell by his presence that he's got the stuff, so I'm super happy for the Mets, and him, for how everything played out. It's a crazy process, because... it was a really huge deal when he came to San Diego, and the first day, it was like a playoff game when he got introduced in right field. I'll remember that forever.

"It's a crazy thing for him to sign and then for me to sign back the Mets and be able to play with him again," Manaea added of Soto.

Soto and Manaea will surely both be major parts of the Mets' future success.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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