When Juan Soto signed with the New York Mets to a record-shattering 15-year, $765 million contract on Sunday, the deal officially broke up one of the most prolific duos in Major League Baseball in Soto and Aaron Judge.
Soto and Judge spent one season together on the New York Yankees after the San Diego Padres traded Soto to the team in Dec. 2023. In their lone season together, Soto and Judge combined for a whopping 99 home runs and 253 RBIs. The pair brought the Yankees back to their first World Series since 2009, though they wound up losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a five-game series.
During his introductory press conference with the Mets on Thursday, Soto surprisingly revealed that he has not spoken to his former Yankees teammates since the Yankees lost the World Series.
"I haven't talked to any of those guys," Soto said. "We talked to them through playoffs, end of the playoffs but after that... I haven't talked to any of those."
Though Soto has not spoken to former teammate and American League MVP Aaron Judge since he became a Met, but clarified that he is still friends with Judge.
"At the end of the day, we're still friends, we're still cool. It's just business. The relationship that we created last year is gonna stay there forever."
"We're still friends, we're still cool. It's just business. The relationship that we created last year will stay forever."
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) December 12, 2024
Juan Soto says he has not spoken with Aaron Judge since his free agency decision, but he plans on doing so: pic.twitter.com/lvN1XdO0ta
Soto mentioned that he does plan on speaking to Judge. In November, Judge also said that he had not spoken to Soto since the World Series.
“I think the best thing is to really give those guys space,” Judge said at the time after winning the MVP award. “I talked to him all season. He knows how we feel about him."
The Yankees ultimately offered Soto a 16-year, $760 million contract, but could not match the 15-year, $765 million offer he took with the Mets and Steve Cohen. His offer with the Mets could be worth up to $805 million with incentives and includes a suite at home games for his family.
Soto said Thursday that he chose the Yankees because of their commitment to winning and how they treated his family during the process.
"The Mets is a great organization," Soto said. "What they have done in the past couple years showing all of the ability to keep winning, to keep growing a team, to try to grow a dynasty is one of the most important things, What you were seeing from the other side was unbelievable."
After memorable but relatively short stints with the Washington Nationals, Padres, and Yankees, Soto has finally chosen his long-term team.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Juan Soto Is Still Friends With Aaron Judge Despite Awkward Departure From Yankees.
