Kansas City Royals at New York Mets

When Mets interim manager Andy Green broke into the big leagues as a player in 2004, he shared his first clubhouse with 40-year-old Randy Johnson and 36-year-old Roberto Alomar, two future Hall of Famers nearing the ends of their careers. Twelve years later, in his first year as manager with the Padres, Green occupied a dugout alongside retired slugger Mark McGwire, who sometimes shared the mindset he used to hit a Major League-record 70 homers in a season. Green brought these stories up recently when asked about Juan Soto. “He’s on paths like that,” the manager said. “There’s very few people in the game that you can say that about.” That is certainly true in general, but particularly for a player like Soto, who has developed a similar reputation by age 27. At an age when some players are still trying to establish themselves as Major Leaguers, or to stick around long enough to hit arbitration, or free agency, Soto has climbed the mountain and set his sights higher. He has a World Series title. He has a $765 million contract. He has a batting title, an OPS crown, and so much more. Perhaps the best representation of Soto’s career arc is the fact that he is about to become the youngest player to appear in the All-Star Game for four different teams. The next-youngest player to achieve that feat did so at age 31. “With any team that I made it, it’s always an unbelievable experience, and I’m expecting to have the same thing here,” said Soto. “Definitely, I’ve been in the AL and now in the NL again. I think it’s going to be great.” At age 27, Soto is already nearing likely surefire Hall of Fame status, which makes the rest of his career a test of exactly how much more he can achieve. Can he win a home run crown? Can he win an MVP, the major trophy that has so far eluded him? Can he be the one to rescue the Mets from 40 years of mostly uninterrupted ineptitude? Can he win two titles? Three? More?