In baseball, and in professional sports as a whole, people covet their jersey numbers. When Juan Soto joined the Mets, he quickly realized that the number 22 was taken by Brett Baty. What did Soto do to acquire his coveted number?
Was Brett Baty Looking To Give His Number Up?
Baty is a young third baseman with the Mets, who was drafted by the Mets with the 12th pick of the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft and has risen through the ranks of the Mets minor league affiliates all the way to the big club.
However, when Soto signed his 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, everyone knew that he would want the jersey number 22, that he has worn for his whole career.
In the past, players who grew fond of their numbers didn’t want to give it up so easily. For example, Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine signed with the Mets in 2003 after wearing the number 47 on his back for 16 years. Originally, he wasn’t too attached to the number, but over the years, he grew fond of it.
However, when he got to Queens, Joe McEwing wore the number 47. In negotiating, Glavine ended up putting a new nursery in McEwing’s home in exchange for the jersey number. McEwing switched to number 11 after that.
So when Mets Special Assistant Eduardo Brizuela called Baty to see how he felt about giving up his number, what were his demands? Baty replied, without hesitation, “It’s just a number.” Baty now wears number 7 on his back and was willing to leave it at that.
He chose 7 because he wanted to pay respect to two players, former Met Jose Reyes and Joe Mauer, whom he loved watching play when he was growing up.
Soto Shows His Appreciation
While it was clear that Baty was fine with giving the number up without any gifts in return, the newest Met wanted to ensure that he showed Baty how much he appreciated the gesture.
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“For me, it’s not about the car,” Soto said. “It’s just something that’s going to make him happy. And whenever he sees it, he tells himself that it’s worth giving the number 22. For me, that’s what it’s all about — to make him feel good, to make him feel comfortable, and really be thankful for what he’s done. Some guys don’t like to give away their numbers. But he actually had no excuses or anything. He just gave it away for me. I’m thankful for that, and I made sure he got something that he’s going to appreciate it.”
Soto paid $92,000 for a blacked-out Chevy Tahoe for Baty, who always got flack from his buddy and teammate Mark Vientos for driving the 2016 Toyota 4Runner that he had since high school.
“I come into Spring Training every single year,” Baty said, “and I’m like, ‘I’m going to get a new car. I’m going to get a new car.’”
Now Baty doesn’t have to worry about that, but he still “loves” his 4Runner and won’t be getting rid of it any time soon. That being said, when he was asked which car he will drive out of the lot after the gift, Baty couldn’t contain his smile when he said, “definitely the new one.”
