New York Mets outfielders Juan Soto and Carson Benge, right-handers Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean and manager Carlos Mendoza are all expected to receive votes for various awards this season.
Although the New York Mets roster underwent major changes during the offseason after a disappointing second half led to missing the playoffs in 2025, the team still has plenty of firepower.
Led by star outfielder Juan Soto, who is playing left field this season, the Mets are looking to avoid what happened last season – an epic collapse filled with poor offense, defense and pitching after having the best record in baseball in June.
Soto was incredible despite having a slow start to the season and the rest of the offense going cold down the stretch, setting career-highs in home runs (43) and stolen bases (38, tied-most in National League) while leading Major League Baseball with 127 walks and slashing .263/.396/.525 (.921 OPS).
Soto is tired of finishing in the top 10 of Most Valuable Player voting. Better yet, he’s tired of finishing in the top three, and he said in an interview that he’s coming for Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who has won the award in each of the last three seasons and four of the last five.
Soto said he has to find a way to beat him to bring home the honors, but it’s easier said than done and Soto knows that. It would take some incredible feats to dethrone Ohtani, but he certainly has the skillset to do so.
57 MLB.com experts predicted who would receive votes and ultimately take home the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Awards for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year for each league as Opening Day approaches. Several Mets are expected to be vote-getters but none are expected to win.
To Soto’s credit, he’s the only MVP candidate not named Ohtani to get multiple votes for MVP.
“Ohtani has won three straight MVP Awards and four in the past five seasons, so it stands to reason he was the runaway favorite here,” Theo DeRosa wrote Monday. “Among other NL candidates, only Juan Soto received multiple votes -- and it still wasn’t close.”
It’s hard to compete when a guy who throws 100 miles per hour and creates the 50/50 club (54 home runs, 59 stolen bases in 2024), but if someone could do it and beat him, it would be Soto.
New Mets ace and two-time All-Star right-hander Freddy Peralta is predicted to receive votes to win the NL Cy Young, but the reigning Cy Young winner – Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes – is expected to take the award home yet again.
Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, MLB No. 1 prospect, narrowly defeated rookie sensation righty Nolan McLean by one vote for NL ROTY. New York’s No. 2 prospect Carson Benge was another potential vote-getter and he just made the Mets roster, so the two top prospects in the Mets’ system will be bidding for the award.
Manager Carlos Mendoza is a favorite to be on the Manager of the Year ballot as well, but Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell is expected to take it home.