Mets’ Juan Soto receives high praise from former teammate

The reigning American League MVP opened up about starting the season without New York Mets superstar Juan Soto by his side.

Michael Sakuraba | Mar 30, 2025

Mar 28, 2025; Houston, TX, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) hits a home run during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Last season, they were the dynamic duo in the Bronx. This season, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and New York Mets superstar Juan Soto have the city divided.

After an incredible performance on Saturday (4-for-6, three home runs), the reigning American League MVP was asked about the potency of the Yankees lineup without Juan Soto. As team captain, Judge rightly defended his team’s roster while also providing high praise for his former teammate.

“Nobody can replace Soto”, Judge said to reporters following the game. “He’s one of a kind. But I think with the guys we’ve added, we’re able to fill some holes we had last year.”

"Nobody can replace Soto. He's one of a kind, but I think with the guys we added, we were able to fill some holes that we probably had last year"

Aaron Judge was asked about how the Yankees look this season after Juan Soto went to the Mets: pic.twitter.com/qihyxKamti
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 29, 2025

The Yankees are off to a 2-0 start after they hammered former teammate Nestor Cortes in the second game of the opening series. The Bronx Bombers lived up to their name, hitting a team-record nine home runs on Saturday in a 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers; the nine long balls are tied for the second-most by a team in a single game in MLB history. Judge hit three of the Yankees’ nine home runs, including a grand slam, with eight total RBI.

Naturally, Judge was quick to defend the current roster despite the absence of Soto. The team is also without designated hitter and playoff hero Giancarlo Stanton, who still has no timeline on a return to action.

"You've got a guy like Bellinger who you can throw in there to play first but all three outfield positions. You've got Goldy (Goldschmidt) who is just a professional bat from the right side. I feel like we needed a big right-handed bat. You've got a guy like Austin Wells, you saw what he did in Thursday's day game to lead off the game and he did it again today."

There was some perceived tension between Judge and Soto in the offseason after the latter signed his record-setting deal with the Mets. Leading up to the signing, Judge was asked about his role in bringing Soto back to the Bronx: the MVP replied that he hadn’t spoken to Soto since the Yankees lost to the Dodgers in the World Series in October 2024.

After he had signed with the Mets, it was revealed that Soto had changed his phone number during the offseason due to the influx of calls during his free agency. But Soto would reconnect with Judge during Spring Training, along with many of his other former Yankee teammates. In a recent interview with NBC’s Today, Soto offered his own praise for Judge, calling him his ‘favorite hitter’ and saying that he loved watching him last season.

Juan Soto makes it official with his first @Mets home run! 💪 pic.twitter.com/WFhnm2rzTg
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2025

Soto hit his first home run as a Met on Friday night against the Astros, a towering blast to right field that sealed the team’s first win of the season.

The rivalry between the Mets and Yankees is as strong as it has been in years. As friendly as the two superstars might be now, Judge and Soto will always be compared to one another under baseball’s biggest spotlight and it is a race to see which one of them can be the first to bring a World Series title back to New York.

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