Inside The Pinstripes

Juan Soto Sums Up Yankees Tenure With Six-Word Message

New York Yankees superstar Juan Soto got honest about his season spent in pinstripes.

Grant Young

Sep 25, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates his two run home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Sep 25, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates his two run home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The New York Yankees are now hours away from Game 1 of their ALDS series against the Kansas City Royals.

Given that the Yankees haven't played a game in six days as they awaited the AL Wild Card round to play out, this week has felt like the calm before the storm that has lent itself to introspection and reflection about what New York accomplished during their 162 regular season games.

Perhaps the Yankees' biggest story this year was the extraordinary campaigns that Aaron Judge and Juan Soto produced. And this story is magnified even further when the context of Soto entering free agency this offseason is added to it.

While it remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old superstar will be wearing pinstripes next season, he made his feelings on this past year clear during an October 5 article from The Athletic's Brendan Kuty.

“I’ve been enjoying my time here,” Soto said of his lone year in New York.

“It’s always great to be on a winning team. I will say that. It’s always fun to be on a winning team with a winning group," he added. "That’s the only thing we want to hear, is win. I think that’s what every player is looking forward to being their whole life, their whole career. Just to be part of a winning team.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone wasn't surprised by Soto's sentiment.

“I’d probably enjoy my time, too, if I walked out with that skill set every day," Boone added in the article. "Watching him interact with his teammates and just watch his ease with which he moves through the room. And in my view, the (comfort) he has in our room, that’s what tells me that.”

While Soto may have enjoyed his time on the Yankees so far, he'll surely be enjoying it a lot more if it ends with a World Series ring.

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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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