The most important player in the history of the New York Mets glances dozens of times a day at a photo of himself in a Washington Nationals uniform.
For more than five years, Juan Soto’s iPhone lock screen has borne a photo of him hoisting the World Series trophy in 2019. He kept it when he rejected a $440 million, 15-year contract extension offer from the Nationals in ’22; when they traded him to the San Diego Padres that July; when the Padres, shedding salary, traded him to the New York Yankees a year ago. And that photo was beside him this week as he signed the largest contract in the history of sports, $765 million over 15 years, with the Mets. He will change it, he has long said, only when he wins his next title.
