{"id":11758,"date":"2024-11-23T23:17:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T23:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11758"},"modified":"2024-11-23T23:17:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T23:17:18","slug":"what-role-yankees-aaron-judge-has-in-juan-soto-sweepstakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11758","title":{"rendered":"What role Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge has in Juan Soto sweepstakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Aaron Judge hasn\u2019t directly recruited Juan Soto back to the Yankees so far this winter, but he has had conversations with owner Hal Steinbrenner about what Soto meant to the lineup this year.<\/p>\n

Judge, who won the second American League Most Valuable Player Award of his career on Thursday night, spoke to reporters in a conference call on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Yankees\u2019 captain revealed that to this point, he and Soto haven\u2019t communicated at all since the end of the World Series. He was hoping to connect with Soto during the MVP announcement show on MLB Network Thursday night \u2014 Soto was also a finalist, finishing third in the race for the award \u2014 but the superstar free agent didn\u2019t attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t talked to him at all,\u201d Judge said. \u201cI think the best thing is to really give those guys space. I talk to them all season, and he knows how we feel about him. I think the most important thing is now to let him do his thing with his family, pray about it, talk with people and come to the right decision for him and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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RESTORING THE GLORY<\/p>\n

What Judge has done, however, is articulate to Steinbrenner what Soto brought to the heart of the Yankees\u2019 lineup. It goes beyond the obvious, as much as he also joked that if he could have eight other Juan Soto\u2019s in the starting lineup with him, he\u2019d love it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went down to Tampa for about a week right after the season and met with him,\u201d Judge said of Steinbrenner. \u201cWe discussed a lot of things from Juan to other guys that are out there that I think could definitely help this team. I kind of just gave him my input on a couple things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steinbrenner went through this process two years ago with Judge, spending $360 million to keep Judge in pinstripes. With Soto expected to sign a contract worth more than $600 million \u2014 if not $700 million \u2014 Judge won\u2019t be the highest-paid Yankee if Soto comes back.<\/p>\n

Asked if that would bother Judge, he said he didn\u2019t mind in the slightest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it ain\u2019t my money,\u201d Judge said with a chuckle. \u201cI really don\u2019t care. As long as we we get the best players and we get the most that we can, I\u2019m happy with whatever. That\u2019s never been something on my mind about who gets paid the most. Whatever we can do to get the best players, I\u2019ll take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soto reportedly wants to establish a close connection with the owner of the team he signs his deal with in free agency this winter. He and Steinbrenner didn\u2019t interact very much during this past season. The Yankees\u2019 owner explained that he didn\u2019t want to bother Soto, not wanting to take the outfielder out of his zone at the ballpark. When Steinbrenner and the Yankees met with Soto earlier this week, it was conveyed from the owner to the superstar that he\u2019ll be treated like Judge, Gerrit Cole and the other leaders in the Yankees\u2019 clubhouse moving forward should he re-sign this winter.<\/p>\n

Considering Soto is undoubtedly prioritizing winning in his decision \u2014\u00a0sustained contention beyond the first few years of his deal\u00a0\u2014 it can\u2019t hurt that Steinbrenner would be open to having that same type of relationship with him as he does with Judge. It also would mean that Soto will be able to provide his input on decisions. Judge praised Steinbrenner, referencing the owner\u2019s commitment to making the team better while listening to Judge\u2019s recommendations and questions throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s constantly wanting to meet, wanting to talk, wanting to get a pulse and check on the team and what\u2019s going on. I think it\u2019s pretty cool to see that as an owner,\u201d Judge said. \u201cMy first couple years I really I didn\u2019t talk to him much, but now to build this relationship and see how much he cares about this organization, this team, from top to bottom, it shows why we continue to be in the position that we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  • Yankees showing interest in pitcher who shut them down in World Series<\/li>\n
  • Yankees dump infielder and reliever at non-tender deadline<\/li>\n
  • Yankees rival calls on legend to make Juan Soto pitch \u2014 and he\u2019s very confident<\/li>\n
  • Yankees have this catching decision to make with non-tender deadline arriving on Friday<\/li>\n
  • Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge wins 2nd MVP unanimously to join exclusive club<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n

    Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.<\/i><\/p>\n

    Max Goodman may be reached at\u00a0<\/i>mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Yankees captain Aaron Judge won the second AL MVP Award of his career on Thursday, winning it unanimously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat role Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge has in Juan Soto sweepstakes - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11758\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What role Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge has in Juan Soto sweepstakes - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yankees captain Aaron Judge won the second AL MVP Award of his career on Thursday, winning it unanimously.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11758\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-23T23:17:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-9-15.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11758\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11758\",\"name\":\"What role Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge has in Juan Soto sweepstakes - 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