Two Mets’ superstars named favorites for NL MVP according to MLB.com

Major League Baseball’s writing staff has named two New York Mets as favorites for the NL MVP Award in 2025.

Feb 24, 2025; Jupiter, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) looks on against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

A pair of New York Mets superstars have been named two of the favorites to take home the NL MVP award in 2025.

According to a poll of MLB.com’s writers, Juan Soto is the top candidate to win the NL MVP award, while teammate Francisco Lindor is in fourth place. Reigning NL MVP winner Shohei Ohtani is in second place after Soto, followed by new Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker in third. Elly De La Cruz, the electric shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, rounds out the top five nominees according to the poll.

Juan Soto comes in ahead of Shohei Ohtani as the favorite for the 2025 National League MVP on https://t.co/Z3s2EpgF39's latest poll 💪 https://t.co/e8lLmniLcS pic.twitter.com/SIn6WAUYaO

— MLB (@MLB) March 7, 2025

All eyes are on Queens this year after the Mets signed Soto away from their cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees, this offseason. Expectations are high for Soto after signing the largest contract in professional sports history in December. Soto has yet to win an MVP award in his career but has finished in the top ten in voting four times, including a second-place finish in 2021; he additionally won five Silver Slugger Awards winner and earned four All-Star selections.

Read More: Juan Soto reveals Mets didn't offer him biggest contract

While Lindor is not quite as proficient at the plate as Soto (and few are), he can more than make up for it with his glove on defense. Last season, Lindor finished second in NL MVP voting last season to Ohtani; his OPS has improved each season he has been with the Mets and nearly had a 30/30 season last year with 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases. Interestingly, the 31-year-old has yet to win a Gold Glove with the Mets despite being worth 42 total fielding runs over his four seasons in Queens.

Plan for now is for arguably MLB’s best lineup to begin this way (players involved have been informed) #mets

1. Francisco Lindor
2. Juan Soto
3. Pete Alonso
4/5. Mark Vientos*
4/5. Brandon Nimmo*

(Vientos will bat 4th vs. most lefties, Nimmo will bat 4th vs. most righties)

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 8, 2025

In the American League, the top five nominees for AL MVP (in order) are Bobby Witt Jr., Aaron Judge, Gunnar Henderson, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Jose Ramirez.

This season could be as good a time as any for Soto to capture his first MVP award, as he will be batting in arguably the strongest lineup of his career with plenty of media coverage in New York. It was also recently announced that Shohei Ohtani could be delayed in returning to the mound as a pitcher this year. Although he didn’t pitch last season and was still voted the MVP, Ohtani will likely need another historic season to win the award again as a designated hitter.

Notably, the Mets are one of just three franchises in MLB to have never featured an MVP winner. The other two are the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays, both of whom were established in 1998; in sharp contrast, the Mets have been around since 1962.

Although individual awards are nice, both Soto and Lindor will say that with the team that Steve Cohen and David Stearns have assembled, there are loftier goals this season in Queens.