McMonigle: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto set to start New York rivalry unlike any we've ever seen

Chris McMonigle believes Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have an all-time New York rivalry brewing, especially after hearing Judge talk about his former teammate at spring training on Tuesday.

The Yankee captain told reporters on Tuesday that he tried to reach out to Soto during his free agency, but Soto had changed his number. The two have since spoken, per Judge, but McMonigle believes there will be a healthy competition between the two for years to come.

“It sounds like he didn’t want to hear from the Yankees and Aaron Judge...it sounds a little cold,” C-Mac said. “It was only one year, but still, the two best right fielders in the sport playing in the same city after playing together for a year, and there’s no doubt that there feels a little bit of - I don’t want to go as far as to say bad blood - but that relationship doesn’t feel great to me.”

Perhaps a little bad blood? Perhaps a driven Judge out to prove to Soto that he made the wrong decision? Whatever the motivation, C-Mac says the narrative is there for these two superstars to have an in-city rivalry unlike any we’ve ever seen in the Big Apple.

“Without question, two of the best teams in baseball with a chance to win the World Series, going up against each other in the same city,” C-Mac said. “The fans seeing Juan Soto’s defection from the Yankees to the Mets as a dynamic shift in who the big team is in the city. There is just going to be a natural rivalry between these two guys that I don’t think we’ve seen.

“They played together...Judge is a historic-level player, and Juan Soto just made $760 million. These are two of the best players on the planet playing in the same city, and they just played with each other.”