Nick Turturro Says New York Yankees Are Better Off Without Juan Soto

Five months ago, Nicholas Turturro was PISSED Juan Soto left the Yankees for the crosstown rival Mets ... but with Soto's early struggles and the Bronx Bombers' strong start -- he tells TMZ Sports he's feeling much better about the situation now.

We caught up with the "NYPD Blue" star and a die-hard Yankees fan after his team won the first round of the Subway Series against the Metropolitans -- in fact, he was present when Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam over Soto's dome to put the game out of reach ... and he loved witnessing the moment due to what it symbolized.

"It was kind of fitting that it landed right over his head," Turturro said. "It was like, 'Hey man, take that.' We're the Yankees, we're loyal fans, and we loved him. We gave him our heart, and we just felt a little bit shunned because you went down the street to little brother."

The 63-year-old equated the Soto era to that of a one-night stand ... saying that they did so much together -- which made the breakup hurt that much more.

But now that the dust has settled ... Turturro doesn't believe the contract will age well for Steve Cohen and the Mets -- and is happy with how the Yanks pivoted following the move.

"Overall, our pitching and our team seems totally complete, but better," he said. "Kind of a work in progress, and in the long run, I think we might be better off without this dude. You can't just allocate the money to one guy and not fill all the needs."

"God bless, good riddance, good luck, get out of here."