With the baseball world focused on Juan Soto’s eagerly awaited return to the Bronx this weekend, it’s easy to overlook plenty of other juicy storylines in this edition of the Subway Series -- not the least of should be the Yankees’ appetite for revenge.

Last season, the Yankees had the most wins in the majors (52) when they traveled to Citi Field on June 25 for the first half of the interborough clash. The Mets, though trending upward, still sat in third place, two games under .500. By the time the dust cleared in late July, the Mets had won all four games between the two for only their second in-season sweep of the Yankees -- and first since 2013. They also humiliated their Bronx buddies, outscoring them, 36-14.

This meeting, however, is truly a clash of baseball’s titans. Both are first-place teams, as the Mets are tied with the Dodgers for MLB’s second-most wins (28) and the Yankees (25-18) trail only the Tigers (29-15) for the best record in the American League. It’s not very often the stakes are this high on both sides of the Subway Series, especially a week from Memorial Day, with a pair of $300 million juggernauts that are closer to being like twins than the former big brother-little brother dynamic.

“We’re ready to go,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’ll be an exciting series, two teams playing well, two really good teams. Pretty sure it’ll be fun.”

Maybe not for Soto. And with that in mind, here are five storylines for this weekend:

The Yankees could not have made the Bronx more comfortable for Soto last season. They bumped Aaron Judge from rightfield and handed Soto the captain’s favored No. 2 spot in the lineup. In return, Soto helped them get to the World Series, then bolted across town to the hated Mets for an extra $5 million. It’s a level of betrayal that we’ve never witnessed in this rivalry, and Soto will be positioned on the tiniest patch of unprotected turf at Yankee Stadium. This could be an all-timer in terms of harassment by the Bleacher Creatures. Soto’s only respite could be at the plate, as Soto batted .285 with 20 homers and a .960 OPS in the Bronx last season.

Two very different rotation-building philosophies will be on display this weekend. The Yankees are down a $324-million ace with Gerrit Cole recovering from Tommy John surgery, but still have Carlos Rodon ($162M) leading off Friday and Max Fried ($218M) starting Sunday’s series finale. Clarke Schmidt, a homegrown bargain at $3.6 million, gets Saturday’s assignment, but the Yankees are still spending more than $54 million in ’25 salary for this trio of starters. On the flip side, the Mets’ rotation enters with MLB’s lowest ERA (2.74) and will send out, in order, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and David Peterson at a ’25 price tag -- total -- of $10.8 million, slightly over a third of Fried’s salary alone. As the Yankees try to outspend everyone for pitching, the Mets hope to outsmart the competition in this department, and we’ll see what wins out this weekend.

Aaron Judge remains the gold standard by which all sluggers are measured, once again leading the world in nearly every offensive category, including OPS (1.279), RBIs (41) and, stunningly, a .412 batting average (his 15 homers are tied with Kyle Schwarber for tops in the majors). He’s hitting 50 points higher than the runner-up (Freddie Freeman’s .362) and the Yankees are 9-3 when Judge goes deep. A third MVP is almost assured. As for Alonso, there was uncertainty this winter that he’d ever play in another Subway Series, but he’s returned with a vengeance. His 1.004 OPS ranks fourth in the majors and he’s right behind Judge with 36 RBIs. Alonso hasn’t homered in eight games, but he’s hitting .311 -- 59 points above his career mark.

The twenty-somethings should have plenty to say about which team prevails in the Subway Series, and that means bragging rights from the development side. For the Mets, Brett Baty’s resurgence -- four homers in his last five starts -- could be a game-changer along with Mark Vientos returning to form (.307 BA, .863 OPS last 27 games) and Francisco Alvarez staying healthy. The Yankees are getting a huge contribution from lefty slugger Ben Rice (9 HRs, .900 OPS) and Jasson Dominguez is coming off a strong road trip that included a three-homer game. Austin Wells is second on the Yankees with 28 RBIs, Anthony Volpe is third at 24.

The Subway Series is the closest thing we get to actual October baseball in mid-May with an intensity unmatched at any other point during the regular season. That means playoff-quality pressure for the bullpen, and another early test for a Mets’ bullpen with the fourth-ranked ERA (2.98) in the majors. Of particular note is closer Edwin Diaz, whose velocity is down across the board and his 12.7 K/9 is his lowest since 2017. The Yankees easily sidestepped their closer crisis by having Luke Weaver take over for the embattled Devin Williams and he’s been light’s out with a 0.45 ERA and .600 WHIP. Williams has trimmed his ERA from 11.25 to 8.36 since his April demotion. But this weekend could present a very unnerving flashback if he faces Alonso, whose three-run homer off Williams last October ended the Brewers’ season. Williams hasn’t been the same since.