Inside The Pinstripes

Why Juan Soto Hasn't Spoken to His Former Yankees Teammates

Context has been added to why Juan Soto hadn't spoken to any New York Yankees players since the World Series ended.

Grant Young

Dec 12, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto puts on a Mets cap during his introductory press conference at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Dec 12, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto puts on a Mets cap during his introductory press conference at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Former New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto had his introductory press conference with the New York Mets on December 12.

Among the questions Soto was asked during the press conference was whether he had spoken to any of his now-former Yankees teammates since signing with the Mets.

“I haven’t talked to any of those guys," Soto responded, according to an X post from SNY. "We talked to them through the playoffs, at the end of the playoffs. But after I [had] this process, I haven’t talked to anyone [on the Yankees].”

This raised the eyebrows of many within the baseball community, as it seemed strange that zero players on the Yankees would reach out to check on Soto this offseason (regardless of whether they spoke about his free agency), given the supposed strong chemistry New York's locker room touted in 2024.

However, a December 13 X post from USA Today's Bob Nightengale sheds light on what went wrong here.

"The reason there was no communication between Juan Soto and his former Yankee teammates simply is that Soto changed his cell phone number.
He was bombarded by outside calls during his free agency and wanted privacy.
Soto now is reaching out to former Yankee teammates," Nightengale wrote.

Perhaps the first person Soto will reach out to is Aaron Judge, as he said he's "looking forward" to maintaining the relationship he built with Judge during their time manning New York's outfield together last season.

Soto not informing Yankees teammates is made even more interesting after Mike Puma of the New York Post released an article on December 12 that revealed how Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, "obtained Soto’s phone number several weeks ago and texted him," to help recruit him to the Mets.

Regardless of what went into the Yankees players and Soto not speaking once the World Series ended, the bottom line is that the 26-year-old is now playing for New York's other team.

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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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