Inside The Pinstripes

Aaron Judge Has Given Juan Soto Silent Treatment Since Yankees' World Series Loss

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have gone silent on each other this offseason.

Grant Young

Jul 31, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (R) and outfielder Juan Soto (L) run from the outfield after the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Jul 31, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (R) and outfielder Juan Soto (L) run from the outfield after the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
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One day before Game 1 of the 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, Yankees slugger and 2024 AL MVP Aaron Judge was asked whether he had spoken to fellow superstar Juan Soto about his looming free agency decision.

"I have not," Judge said, per SNY. "You know, we got better things ahead of us right now with trying to take care of this World Series. I know when the time comes, when this is all over, he'll make the right decision for himself."

It was fair for Judge's focus to be on winning a World Series instead of what would come afterward. However, a November 22 X post from SNY showed that Judge not only hasn't spoken to Soto about free agency since New York lost the World Series, but hasn't spoken to him at all.

"Yeah, I haven't talked to him at all," Judge said per SNY when asked about deciding how much to speak to Soto about free agency this offseason.

"I think the best thing is to really give those guys space," Judge continued. "You know, I talked to him all season and he knows how we feel about him. And I think the most important thing is [to] now let him do his thing with his family, pray about it, talk with people, and come to the right decision for him and his family.

"So yeah, I haven't talked to him at all. I thought I'd talk to him maybe yesterday on the [MVP announcement] call... but he wasn't there," Judge concluded.

This is probably not what Yankees fans want to hear right now.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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