Juan Soto's stance on what wins championships raises eyebrows

New York Mets star Juan Soto explained what's more important for a winning team.

Sep 28, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) looks on after the game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns didn't mince words about where his squad struggled most in 2024.

"From a roster construction perspective, on the run-prevention side of the ball, we didn't do a good enough job of fortifying our team when we had injuries midseason," Stearns said, per a September 29 article from SNY's Danny Abriano. He then added, "Clearly, that was a point in our season where on the run-prevention side of things we went from a very good team to a team that wasn't good enough to maintain a sizable lead; not only in the division, but in the playoff chase. Our defense wasn't good enough, and that certainly contributed to our pitching challenges."

This sentiment from Stearns made it so the expectation heading into this offseason was that the Mets would improve their defense. And this has come true, as they've added elite infielder Marcus Semien (in a trade that sent Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers) and allowed Pete Alonso, who is a below-average defensive first baseman, to walk in free agency without giving him a formal contract offer.

Read more: Yankees shrug off Mets interest in star free agent

And if New York makes any other roster additions (which they're expected to), it's safe to assume that the player's defensive abilities will be solid.

Dec 12, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets general manager David Stearns speaks to the media during a Juan Soto introductory press conference at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Juan Soto Sends Strong Message on the Value of Defense

One position where the Mets were mediocre defensively in 2025 was right field. This was owed to Juan Soto, who posted a -13 Fielding Run Value (a metric that conveys defensive performance on a run-based scale, showing how many runs above or below average they are compared to the average MLB player at their position) last season, making him the worst out of all big league outfielders.

Despite his struggles in the field, Soto understands how important a good defense is to a team's success. He conveyed this during a recent interview with journalist Katherine Hernandez, which has been reposted on social media.

When asked what's more important between good hitting and good defense, Soto said (in translated Spanish), “The word on the street is, the offense wins a lot of games, but defense wins championships," per an X post from @Masterflip_.

What’s more important, good hitting or good defense?

Soto- “The word on the street is, the offense wins a lot of games, but defense wins championships”

Via KatherineHernandezNews IG pic.twitter.com/5m5xhUfNtI

— Master Flip 🇩🇴 (@Masterflip_) December 26, 2025

This stance is sure to raise some eyebrows, given Soto's shortcomings on defense to this point. But he has spoken about working to improve his defense this offseason, which will hopefully make the Mets more well-rounded in that regard in 2026.

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