Inside The Pinstripes

Ex-Mets Pitcher Calls on Yankees' Star to Step Up Juan Soto Recruiting

A prominent figure in the baseball community believes Aaron Judge should be doing more to ensure Juan Soto returns to the Bronx.

Grant Young

Aug 4, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates his solo home run during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays with left fielder Aaron Judge (99) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Aug 4, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates his solo home run during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays with left fielder Aaron Judge (99) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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On November 22, New York Yankees slugger and 2024 AL MVP Aaron Judge asserted that he has not spoken to Juan Soto since the Yankees' season ended and Soto became an unrestricted free agent.

"Yeah, I haven't talked to him at all," Judge said of Soto, per SNY. "I think the best thing is to really give those guys space. 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.

Hearing that Judge hasn't spoken with Soto sent many Yankees fans into panic mode. And a November 28 article from the New York Post's Justin Terranova disclosed that former New York Mets pitcher Trevor May is shunning Judge for his quiet approach to the Soto sweepstakes.

“If you want [Soto], sometimes you just have to flex that muscle a bit because you’re Aaron Judge, man,” said May on the “Foul Territory” podcast.

“You are the LeBron James of the game right now, so just be him and if that helps you and you get him that’s all that matters at the end of the day. It is interesting and kind of odd that he was very adamant about his not talking to him, which seemed a little out of place with the situation," May added.

“What do we know about Aaron Judge? He is not the most in-your-face, strong personality. I-am-going-to-insert-myself-into-this-situation guy. That doesn’t seem like something he’s comfortable or likes doing.

“I understand that comes with the captain tag," May continued. "That’s just what it feels like to me. He’s either lying through his teeth, which I don’t think he’d do. He’s not a guy that would blatantly say, ‘I did not call him’ and actually called him. He would dance around it a little bit more.”

It would be interesting to know whether Judge has spoken to Soto since the latter's contract offers started coming in.

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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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