Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole Address Juan Soto's Upcoming Free Agency

The New York Yankees' two highest-paid players got honest about Juan Soto's looming free agency on Thursday.

Grant Young

Sep 21, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) walks towards the dugout next to right fielder Juan Soto (22) against the Oakland Athletics before the start of the seventh inning at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Sep 21, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) walks towards the dugout next to right fielder Juan Soto (22) against the Oakland Athletics before the start of the seventh inning at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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Even with the World Series about to begin, those within the New York Yankees universe can't get the prospect of superstar Juan Soto's looming free agency out of their mind.

This was apparent during World Series media day on Thursday, where the Yankees' two highest-paid players were asked whether they've spoken to Soto about his upcoming free agency decision.

Yankees slugger and expected 2024 AL MVP winner Aaron Judge made it clear that his focus wasn't on Soto's decision at this point.

"I have not," Judge said when asked about Soto's free agency, 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."

Judge and Soto became the first Yankees teammates to each hit 100+ RBIs since 2011. And given that many of Judge's 144 regular season RBIs were scored by Soto, he'd surely love to have him back in the Bronx.

When Yankees' ace Gerrit Cole was asked whether he's had any free agency conversations with Juan Soto, he said per SNY, "I've left him alone in terms of that. I certainly would love to see him stay. I think he's a wonderful player, an amazing talent. And hopefully, the actions of the organization, both of his teammates and everybody that pours into this club speak for themselves in terms of how much we want him and what he means to us, especially while he's here."

It appears that even Soto's teammates can only hope and pray about his future in pinstripes at this point.

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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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