Mets' Juan Soto arrives, happy his long-term future secured - ESPN

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — More than two months after signing the richest contract in professional sports history, Juan Soto reported to work Sunday for the first time as a member of the New York Mets not yet having fully digested the life-changing, $765 million commitment.

«Not yet,» Soto said with a smile. «I'm still thinking about it and everything. It's unbelievable. I'm really happy for that. I'm really happy to know where I'm going to be for the next 15 years.»

Soto arrived for his first day of spring training a little after 7 a.m. ET on Sunday, the day Mets position players were asked to report. He underwent the usual physical before putting on a uniform and emerging for a workout to a horde of media and fans.

He chatted with manager Carlos Mendoza by the bullpen mounds. He stretched on one of the several back fields, bantering with his new teammates and hearing greetings from fans.

«Welcome to the team!» one man exclaimed a few times. «Bring us to glory!»

Soto took batting practice in a group with veterans on the main field at Clover Park, and effortlessly lined balls around the diamond. He launched one ball nearly over the batter's eye in straightaway center field. It was business as usual even if it wasn't.

«It's exciting,» Mendoza said. «You could see it. All the people. There's a lot more cameras. As soon as he stepped on the field, he was walking toward the cage, you could just feel it. And when he stepped in that batting cage with all the boys who were there… heads turned around. It was like, 'OK. Here he is.'''

For Soto, Sunday represented the beginning of some long-awaited stability. The Mets are his fourth franchise in fewer than three years. His impending free agency had been a subject that lingered over