Juan Soto Surprises Mets Teammate Who Gave Up His Jersey Number With A Brand-New Car

Juan Soto has worn the No. 22 for the entirety of his seven-year MLB career. After signing his massive contract with the New York Mets, the 26-year-old found himself in a predicament given that Mets third baseman Brett Baty was the owner of the No. 22 jersey.

The new teammates worked a deal out in the form of a new $80,000 SUV going into the garage of Baty and the double-deuce digits going on the back of Soto's New York jersey.

The Mets shared a video of Baty being surprised with his brand-new, blacked-out Chevrolet Tahoe with ‘Thanks for #22’ written across the back windshield.

"I really appreciate the number," Soto can be heard saying in the video. "It’s the first one I ever wore."

Baty switched from the No. 22 to No. 7 shortly after Soto officially signed with the Mets, but the new face of the franchise clearly wanted to show his appreciation, and giving away a new car is certainly a nice way of doing that.

Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets in December 2024. Some quick math shows that $80,000 purchase cost Soto about .01% of his salary.

Soto will enter his first season as a Met fresh off of a one-year stop with the New York Yankees where he hit a career-high 41 HR and drove in 109 runs for the second-consecutive year.

The Mets are the fourth team Soto has played for, and could very well be his last given his contract that technically spans an entire decade and a half.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.