PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Aaron Boone had a message for Juan Soto ahead of his first season with the Mets.

“I told him, ‘You look terrible in that uniform,'” the Yankees manager said Monday at Clover park ahead of the Subway Series exhibition game at Clover Park.

The Yankees and Mets might be more intertwined than ever this season. They aren’t just crosstown rivals, they’re both legitimate contenders in their leagues and familiar faces dot both dugouts.

During batting practice, former Mets general manager Omar Minaya, now a senior advisor to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, caught up with a number of former colleagues in Port St. Lucie, including baseball ops boss David Stearns. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza caught up with Luis Rojas, a former skipper in Queens who now coaches with the Yankees. Assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel and catching coordinator Glenn Sherlock both spent time coaching with the Yankees.

Even the Opening Day battery for the Mets will feature two former Yankees with right-hander Clay Holmes — a closer in the Bronx — making his first regular season start in a Mets uniform with Luis Torrens behind the dish.

Monday, in the spring training finale, former Mets right-hander and Long Island native Marcus Stroman pitched to Soto, the former Yankees superstar who departed the Bronx for Queens in December, leaving the pinstripes behind for a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. A packed crowd of more than 8,000 fans greeted Soto with a mix of loud boos and resounding cheers.

“It was a lot of cheers out there,” Soto said. “I was happy for the fans that cheered for the players, and I’m going from there.”

While the Mets and their fans have gotten used to the sight of Soto in orange and blue, it was new for many. While there might be ill will between the two fanbases, there certainly isn’t any animosity between the two teams. Soto helped the Yankees win a pennant last year and was a key driver of a prolific offense. Naturally, Boone and the Yankees still value the contributions to the organization he made during his lone season with the team.

“Juan was great for us, but just as important, he was a great guy in our room, great guy in our clubhouse,” Boone said. “So honestly, it was actually really good to see him and just catch up for a minute. But yeah, terrible in that uniform.”

This was the first time Boone had talked to the 26-year-old superstar since he signed with the Mets. Since then, more details have been revealed about Soto’s controversial cross-borough decision. He left more money on the table with the Yankees because he sees the Mets as a more sustainable winner long-term.

Yankee fans might balk at the idea of the Mets being sustainable, while Mets fans are probably still trying to wrap their heads around the concept.

“I think we’re in a good spot — in a really good spot,” Soto said. “I think we have a really talented group. We have a lot of guys, we have a lot of outfielders, we have a lot of infielders, so I think we are really loaded as a team. Can’t wait to see these guys going out there.”

Still, it was a friendly reunion in a 6-6 tie.

Soto forged bonds with the players he faced Monday, and still considers many of them to be close friends. Earlier this spring, Soto told the New York Daily News that the most difficult part of leaving any organization is leaving behind the relationships. Some of those relationships are still strong, which brought a mix of emotions for Soto.

“It’s a different feeling facing those guys after what we went through last year,” Soto said. “It was a really fun experience because you already know their minds, their mindset and how they are.”

Rivalries mostly exist for the fans, but that hasn’t always been the case with the Yankees and the Mets. With the Yankees’ illustrious history, it’s been hard for Mets players, personnel and even ownership to not look across the dugout and notice sharp disparities in the organizations in the past. But there is a mutual appreciation for where each franchise is right now.

The Yankees and Mets were both beaten by the same team last fall, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Both teams acted aggressively in the offseason, infusing their rosters with high-end talent.

But it’s the Mets who ended up with the most elite player on the market, Soto. The animosity among fans still exists. It’s New York, after all, a proud city with a rich baseball history, and a rich history of screaming about baseball. If anything, this Grapefruit League game was just a warmup for this season’s six-game Subway Series.

Come May 16, the main event when the two face off against one another at Yankee Stadium. Soto is bracing himself for the day Yankee fans get to let him know how they really feel about him now.

“Yankees fans can surprise you with anything,” Soto said. “So I’m expecting the worst.”

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