Juan Soto Wants To Steal The NL MVP From Shohei Ohtani

The past two seasons, Shohei Ohtani had a monopoly over the NL MVP. Before that, he won 2 of the last 3 AL MVP awards. Meaning in total, Ohtani won an MVP in 4 of the last 5 seasons. It is hard to argue against a guy who is both an elite pitcher and an elite starting pitcher. But he won in 2024 even without throwing a single pitch.

In 2026, he is expected to be a full-time hitter and pitcher. Making it hard to see anyone preventing him from winning NL MVP for the 3rd straight season. But one Mets player is confident he can ruin the 3-peat. Juan Soto.

"I'm going to be there every year, too," Soto told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. "He better keep doing what he's doing, because I'm coming."

Juan Soto finished 3rd in NL MVP voting. Ohtani received all 30 1st place votes. Juan Soto received 4 2nd-place votes, 15 3rd-place votes, 9 4th-place votes, and 2 5th-place votes. Kyle Schwarber got the most 2nd-place votes with 23.

Soto had a fantastic season in 2025. He hit .263 with 43 homers, 105 RBI, 120 runs, and 38 stolen bases. His OBP was just under .400, but even that was not enough to push Ohtani for the MVP award.

If he is going to live up to his claim, he will have to do something special. Like, repeat what Ohtani did in 2024 and have a 50-HR, 50-SB season. Or maybe hit over .400. Without doing something historic like that, it is hard to see anyone pushing Ohtani, unless Ohtani suffers an injury. Kyle Schwarber hit 56 HRs last year and couldn't even steal one 1st place vote.

But even if it is not a realistic goal, Juan Soto being extra motivated has to be something that excites Mets fans. Even if he falls short of his goal, seeing Juan Soto play even better than he did last year can only be a good thing. And with Ohtani locked into the NL for the long-term future, maybe winning 2nd place in the NL MVP voting will be the new goal for all the other players.