Juan Soto talks relationship with Aaron Judge, what led him to choose Mets over Yankees
Juan Soto opened some eyes with his last comments at the podium during Thursday's introductory press conference with the Mets, telling reporters that he had not spoken with any of his former Yankee teammates since the Bombers were eliminated from the World Series.
"I haven't talked to any of those guys," Soto said. "We talked to them through the playoffs, the end of the playoffs, but after that...I haven't talked to any of those guys."
But after the new Mets superstar broke off and spoke with media away from the podium, Soto added that while he had not spoken with Yankee teammates, including Aaron Judge, he hopes to maintain the relationships that he forged in the Bronx, and spoke highly of the Yankee captain, though it still comes across as strange that Soto would not have reached out to Judge after he won the 2024 AL MVP award.
"Yeah, why not? Definitely," Soto said when asked if he would reach out to Judge and continue that relationship now that his free agency is over. "At the end of the day, we're still friends, we're still cool. Everything that happened, it's just business. But the relationship that we created last year will stay there forever. I'm looking forward to it.
"Having a guy like Judge, it's just incredible. He's one of the best guys I've ever played with. If not the best, one of the best. It's just unbelievable, what he's capable of and how he handled himself, and how we went back and forth."
As for the fans, Soto thanked the Yankee faithful for the support in 2024, even if his pivot across town to the Mets likely makes him a villain in the Bronx.
"I want to say thank you. I actually just want to say thank you to them," Soto said. "They really showed me all the love and everything that they have last year. They were there day in and day out. They have a spot in my heart at the end of the day.
"Tough that we couldn't get it together and try to be back and stuff like that, but definitely will always appreciate what they did for me in 2024."
Unfortunately for those Yankee fans that fell in love with Soto in pinstripes, it was truly a one-year rental, as Soto said he saw the Mets as the team that has the best chance of building a sustained winner during his 15-year contract.
"I feel like they did everything they had I their power to help me out and bring me back," Soto said of the Yanks. "But I had four other teams doing the same thing…at the end of the day, we looked at everything, looked at the chances, what other teams want to do for the next 15 years, and I think we have the best chance to do it here."
