Aaron Judge has a new role as he enters spring training this year: dad to baby Nora Rose, who was born just three weeks ago and will motivate him ‘to stay on top of his game’ as she grows up.
“Having the chance to have her grow up and watch me do what I love, if there's any way I can inspire her through playing this game to do something special, that’s going to be pretty cool,” Judge said Monday following his first spring training workout. “I don’t want to be the old man here in a couple of years, so I got to stay on top of my game. She’s definitely going to motivate me, definitely keep me on my toes. and it’s going to be a fun couple of years, that’s for sure.”
He still has his previous job, too, as Captain of the Yankees, and is still thinking about the squad’s five-game loss to the Dodgers in last year’s World Series.
“Getting to the dance and then losing out on it definitely is a lot worse than not even getting in,” Judge said. “So guys are motivated and ready to go.”
That’s why Judge was confused by former teammate Juan Soto’s declaration upon signing with the Mets that the Queens crew was better prepared to win going forward, even if he understands why Soto left and signed across town on the business side of things.
“I wasn’t too surprised by it. I think that’s where he wanted to be. I think that's where is best for him and his family – he got a pretty nice deal over there, and you can’t say no to that,” Judge said of the deal itself, before adding this about Soto’s thoughts that the Mets could win more: “That’s his opinion. He can say what he wants. I definitely disagree with him.”
The Yankees and Mets will play six times this year and every year for the foreseeable future, and while Judge will love having Soto in NYC still and back in the Bronx for one series a year, he’s now a competitor, and competitors get treated as such when the time comes.
“He’s going to be in a great spot. It’s going to be great having him in the town,” Judge said. “He’s a special player, one of a kind, but we're going to be battling back and forth for quite a few years.”