New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto won his second consecutive Juan Marichal Award as the best Dominican player of the 2025 season on Monday, October 20.
#Mets Juan Soto ganó el Premio Juan Marichal como mejor dominicano del año en MLB, por segunda temporada consecutiva. pic.twitter.com/zNDpcLzwFh
— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) October 20, 2025
The Juan Marichal Award honors the best player from the Dominican Republic following each Major League Baseball regular season.
It also serves as a bridge between MLB and the international game, celebrating how Dominican players continue to shape the sport’s global identity. Soto, expected to lead the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, embodies that “Baseball Without Borders” spirit Marichal helped inspire.
Marichal, the first player born in the Dominican Republic to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, played 16 seasons in the majors — 14 with the San Francisco Giants from 1960 to 1973, one with the Boston Red Sox in 1974, and one with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975.
¡Hoy está de cumpleaños el primer dominicano en ser miembro del Salón de la Fama de Cooperstown! ¡Juan Marichal está cumpliendo 88 años! ⭐ pic.twitter.com/ujjoAMZdCw
— MLB Español (@mlbespanol) October 20, 2025
The 10-time All-Star led the National League in wins in 1963 and 1968, led Major League Baseball in ERA in 1969, and pitched a no-hitter on June 15, 1963, against the Houston Astros — the first no-hitter thrown at Candlestick Park. The 2025 Juan Marichal Award was announced on Marichal’s 88th birthday.
Soto joined Marcell Ozuna (2023), Sandy Alcantara (2022), and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2021) as recent recipients of the honor.
The 26-year-old from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, completed his eighth major league season after playing 160 games with the Mets. He posted a 6.2 WAR over 715 plate appearances, collecting 152 hits, 20 doubles, one triple, 43 home runs, 105 RBI, and 137 strikeouts.
He led the National League with 38 stolen bases, recorded a .396 on-base percentage, and topped the majors with 127 walks.
The Mets missed the postseason in Soto’s first year in Queens, finishing second in the division at 83–79, 13 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies (96–66).
Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets on December 2, which included no deferred money and a $75 million signing bonus.
In 1963, Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn traded goose eggs for 16 innings until the Giants finally won 1-0 on a Willie Mays walk-off homer. No endless parade of relief pitchers, no bullshit ghost runners. Just real fucking baseball. pic.twitter.com/wpJQjZe9Io
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) February 7, 2025
His salaries with the Mets are structured as follows: $46,875,000 in 2025 and 2026, $42.5 million in 2027, $46,875,000 in both 2028 and 2029, and $46 million in each of the final 10 seasons.
In his 2024 All-Star campaign with the New York Yankees, Soto ranked fourth in MLB with 41 home runs, tied for sixth in RBI with 109, second in walks with 129, 16th in batting average at .288, third in OPS at .988, and 17th in hits with 166, while appearing in 157 games.
Soto spent one year in the Bronx, helping the Yankees win their 41st American League pennant before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the World Series.
In 49 postseason at-bats with the Yankees, Soto hit .327, scoring 12 runs, collecting 16 hits, three doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, 14 walks (including two intentional), and striking out nine times.
The left-handed hitter is a four-time All-Star (2021–24), a World Series champion with the Washington Nationals in 2019, a three-time All-MLB First Team selection (2020–21, 2024), a five-time Silver Slugger winner (2020–24), and the 2020 National League batting champion.
Photo: New York Mets’ Juan Soto (22) talks to fans before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
