Soto on Bronx return: It’ll be ‘50,000 against 1’
Juan Soto has no illusions about the kind of reception he’ll receive for his much-anticipated Bronx return Friday night.
Soto, who left the New York Yankees six weeks after their World Series loss to sign with the New York Mets on a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract, knows that all eyes will be squarely on him when he makes his first trip back to Yankee Stadium for the opener of a three-game series between the two division leaders.
And he knows fans won’t exactly be welcoming him with open arms.
“It’s going to be 50,000 against one,” Soto told the New York Post. “They’re going to try to get on me, you know. It’s part of it.
“Whatever they do, they have a right to do it.”
Soto’s departure followed months of speculation over whether he would stay or go. Toward the end of last season and into a postseason run where the Yankees made their first World Series appearance since 2009, the affection between Soto and the fans was evident and highlighted by daily “re-sign Soto” chants.
Soto ultimately rejected the Yankees’ 16-year, $760 million offer, opting instead to sign the richest contract in professional sports history to join the Mets.
Though Soto said he’s still “adjusting to the new team,” he emphasized that he has no regrets.
“No, no. I made a decision, and I’m happy that I made it,” Soto told the Post. “You look around. We have an unbelievable team. And it’s going to be a good team for a long time.”
Soto is hitting .255 with eight homers and 20 RBIs, and he’s 13-for-45 (.289) in his past 12 games after hitting .241 in the first month of the season. He has batted second in the order between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso for every game except Wednesday, when he was given the night off for a rainy 4-0 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Mets, who took the World Series champion Dodgers to six games in the 2024 NLCS, have been in first place every day since April 11 and are 6-3 in their past nine games.
Meanwhile, the Yankees used some of the money they’d hoped to spend on Soto to sign starting pitcher Max Fried and seven-time All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the 2022 National League MVP. They also acquired two-time All-Star outfielder Cody Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP, in a trade.
Those additions give the lineup more depth beyond six-time All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge, the 2022 and 2024 American League MVP who is leading the major leagues with a .412 batting average, 15 homers and 41 RBIs.
“I think it’ll be really exciting for the fan bases,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the weekend series with the Mets, “especially all that’s going on in New York right now with the Knicks hopefully on the verge of a series win and us playing the Mets and all that goes with that. Hopefully, the weather is good and it provides for an exciting weekend for our city.”
For his part, Soto echoed Boone’s sentiment, saying his return to Yankee Stadium is “going to be fun.”
“It’s going to be good,” he said. “We’re going to have a good time.”
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
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Dave Wilson
AUSTIN, Texas — A week after Arch Manning struggled in a loss at Ohio State, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian saw his quarterback bounce back in a 38-7 win over San Jose State and said this game showcased more of Manning’s style.
Manning matched a career high with four touchdown passes, going 19-of-30 for 295 yards, and added a 20-yard touchdown scramble, tiptoeing down the left sideline at the end of the third quarter.
“I thought today was a by-product of the week of work. He played aggressive throughout the week. He studied the game plan. He knew exactly what we were trying to do, and I thought today he played more of his style,” Sarkisian said. “He extended plays, used his legs, scrambles for a touchdown. That’s the style of player that he is.”
On several plays, Manning rolled out and found receivers. A few of his passes were dropped, with Sarkisian saying Texas “didn’t catch the ball great for him.” But Sarkisian was pleased that Manning made plays when things broke down.
“Him playing his game and not trying to play at somebody else’s style of game, I think it is important for him,” Sarkisian said.
Manning also threw a bad interception while under pressure, heaving the ball into double coverage from the Spartans’ 14-yard line. San Jose State defenders had a shot at picking off a couple of his other throws but failed to haul them in.
“A lot to work on,” Manning said. “I thought it was sloppy for my part. Can’t turn the ball over in the red area. I’ve got to play better. I think all around, it was a little sloppy.”
Manning started slowly, going 3-of-6 for 11 yards on his first two drives. But then, on a third-and-3 with 2:52 left in the first quarter, Manning found Parker Livingstone along the left sideline, and he turned it upfield for an 83-yard touchdown.
The touchdown throw was part of a stretch where Manning went 5-for-5 for 142 yards and four touchdowns, including TDs on three consecutive passing attempts — a 3-yarder to Livingstone, then 36- and 16-yarders to tight end Jack Endries.
“Anytime you can get points on the board after a slow start, it feels good,” Manning said. “Then, [we] finally got some rhythm. Defense started stepping up, too, so we’ve just got to start quicker next week.”
The Longhorns, who committed 12 penalties for 115 yards, have four new offensive line starters, and many new players at wide receiver and tight end. And even Texas stars such as edge rusher Colin Simmons (two penalties for offsides, one for roughing the passer) didn’t perform their best.
“I think as our team in general goes, this is not the best version of Texas football this season that we’re going to see,” Sarkisian said. “My foot’s got to get in their butt here on Monday morning. That’s unacceptable. And there’s a standard in which we want to play the game, and 12 penalties does not meet that standard.”
Manning said all week that he had to play better for Texas to win. He was encouraged by his performance Saturday, finding a way to make plays, but doesn’t believe he’s at his best.
Sarkisian said Manning is gifted with his dual-threat abilities, but his team is learning on the fly how to block for him while he’s scrambling or that he could throw while on the move.
“There’s things that we’re learning as we go as a team, but those are some of the growing pains that we have to work through,” Sarkisian said.
Those growing pains still resulted in an easy win at home Saturday. For Sarkisian, he said he can see the trust growing among his players, including Manning.
“The guys rally around him, you can feel it today on the sidelines,” Sarkisian said. “They really like playing with Arch, and that’s important.”
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Andrea Adelson
The father of Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard was on the sideline Saturday for the Seminoles’ game against East Texas A&M.
Earl Pritchard and another family member were on the sideline wearing his son’s No. 35 jersey. Ethan Pritchard remains hospitalized in Tallahassee after surviving a gunshot wound to the head last weekend.
Prayers up. pic.twitter.com/NCTZyoxiTV
— Warchant.com (@Warchant) September 6, 2025
Florida State safety Earl Little Jr. brought out a No. 35 jersey to midfield for the coin toss, and Florida State players wore No. 35 wristbands to honor their teammate.
All Garnet with the Gold lids
Continuing to think about Ethan 🙏🏼#NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing pic.twitter.com/FD6GSNpo5F
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
#NoleFamily 🍢 pic.twitter.com/HSTjx9e7xp
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
Defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. wore a T-shirt with Pritchard’s face on it during pregame warmups.
According to Earl Pritchard, Ethan Pritchard was driving his aunt home when he was shot in the back of the head in Havana, Florida, 16 miles from Tallahassee, on Sunday night.
The Seminoles routed East Texas A&M 77-3 on Saturday, after which coach Mike Norvell presented Earl Pritchard with the game ball, and asked him to break the rock – a tradition generally given to the player of the game after each Seminoles victory.
💛♥️ #NoleFamily pic.twitter.com/kg2kJtMNRA
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
Norvell grew emotional as he discussed Pritchard during his postgame media availability.
“The way that he plays the game … he loves it, he absolutely loves it. To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act, you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life but I do believe God has his hand over Ethan and this football team,” Norvell said.
“To have Earl here today – He’s a wonderful man, and being with him I know it’s so very hard. I know it’s hard for anybody to have to go through, but he told me early in this week, ‘I know where my boy wants to be so I’m going to go stand in his place for him.'”
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