NY Mets confirm Juan Soto will have to prepare for a change in 2026

Juan Soto and the New York Mets look around during spring training and see a much different lineup. After a shaky offseason, filled with dramatic departures and bidding wars with the New York Yankees, the Orange and Blue is ready for the 2026 MLB season.

If something isn’t broken, there’s no need fixing it. Soto’s play as right fielder for the Mets has shown no cracks, but New York is making adjustments regardless. In the big picture, the Orange and Blue must make changes, and Soto has been caught in the middle of the organization’s latest decision.

“Juan Soto is going to play left field for us this year,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns announced during a press conference. “He is going to play at left field for the Dominican Republic in the [World Baseball Classic]. He felt really comfortable there.

“It made sense for us from a roster perspective, so we’re going to go forward with it. Everyone is on board with [the decision]. Not something we had really contemplated coming into the offseason, but as we had conversations over the last month, it made sense for all involved to do this.”

David Stearns of the New York Mets at American Family Field

Who will play RF?

With Soto moving to left field, all signs indicate that Carson Benge will fill the vacant spot on the right side of the outfield at Citi Field throughout the 2026 MLB campaign.

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According to Just Mets reporter Michael Baron, outfielders Brett Baty, Tyrone Taylor, and MJ Melendez are also among the options to man the right field for New York.

Gold Glove Award finalist as a LF

While Soto has admitted he has felt more comfortable playing on the right side of the outfield in the past, as he embraced being a left fielder for his national team ahead of the WBC, he held conversations with Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and the move made sense.

Soto hasn’t been deployed primarily as a left fielder in a while, but he has shown a great ability to do so in the past. Moreover, in 2019—then with the Washington Nationals—Soto was named a finalist for the Gold Glove Award. That season, he also finished ninth in National League MVP voting, despite it being only his second year in MLB.

Much has changed and time has passed, but a magician never forgets his tricks. The Mets hope that stays true for Soto—the left fielder—and that this trickster has an ace up his sleeve in Queens.