Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor Address 'Chilly' Relationship Rumors in Trending Mets Videos

Opening Day is a little over a month away, yet the New York Mets are already in midseason form

First came the news of Francisco Lindor's hamate injury, raising questions over the shortstop's availability at the start of the year. Now, outfielder Juan Soto is having to address rumors about his rapport with Lindor behind the scenes.

Soto told reporters Sunday he has "a great relationship" with the veteran infielder:

The New York Post's Mike Puma reported in November that Soto and Lindor were "chilly" toward one another at times during the 2025 season. One source told Puma there was a bit of a personality clash.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has disputed the notion there was wider internal friction within the team but believes the atmosphere was a little too "corporate."

With that and the rumors about Soto in mind, Lindor acknowledged the Mets aren't "best friends" with one another but are all unified behind the goal of winning games:

Soto's newest comments echo what he told Dominican journalist Luz Garcia in December about his and Lindor's interactions.

"Good, I get along very well with Lindor, you know, great ballplayer, great person, happy guy, content there in the clubhouse and all the rest," he said (via Manny Gómez of NJ.com).

The Mets won 83 games in 2025 and missed the playoffs, failing to provide an adequate return from a payroll approaching almost $350 million.

In the first year of his $765 million contract, Soto was a regular lightning rod for discourse in particular. He ultimately led the National League in stolen bases (38) and on-base percentage (.396) while slugging .525. But one downside of making $51 million annually is that critics will be eager to jump on whatever mistakes they can.

This offseason, the Mets traded longtime contributor Jeff McNeil and let Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo walk as free agents. One MLB executive told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon the moves "[tell] you how big a s--t show their clubhouse was."

Trading Soto was obviously out of the question, even in the event he and Lindor didn't always see eye to eye.

New York has done a lot to improve its roster, between signing Bo Bichette and acquiring Luis Robert Jr., Marcus Semien and Freddy Peralta through trades. That may not matter without a more harmonious and genial day-to-day atmosphere around the team.

Given both his salary and importance on the field, Soto will need to be a tone-setter in that regard.