Juan Soto surprises teammate with cool gift after number swap

New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Mets' Juan Soto surprises teammate with generous gift after jersey number swap

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Feb 20, 2025 6:04 PM ET

New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty no longer wears No. 22, but at least he now owns a new car.

On Thursday, the Mets' Instagram account posted a clip of right fielder Juan Soto gifting Baty a blacked-out Chevrolet Tahoe after recently swapping numbers. Soto had a message written on the car's back windshield: "Thanks for No. 22."

Baty wore No. 22 in his first three seasons with the Mets. After Soto signed a 15-year, $765M deal in December 2024, Baty gave up his number and switched to No. 7 because he grew up a fan of Jose Reyes and Joe Mauer.

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"We did our sources and tried to make sure that's the car he likes," Soto said in a Thursday news conference. "He was talking with one of our guys, and he was letting him know that it was the car of his dreams and everything ... I made sure he got it."

It seemed like it was time for Baty to get a new ride. According to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo, Mets third baseman Mark Vientos has been ragging him for driving the same 2016 Toyota 4Runner he did in high school.

"I come into spring training every single year," Baty said, via DiComo, "and I'm like, 'I'm going to get a new car. I'm going to get a new car.'"

After Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700M deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason, relief pitcher Joe Kelly gave No. 17 to the designated hitter/starting pitcher. Ohtani subsequently bought Kelly and his wife a new Porsche.

It's good to see that stars like Soto and Ohtani have been using their money to give back to teammates.

Clark Dalton

Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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