With his second AL MVP now in the books, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was able to reflect on the season he and his team had in 2024. And while it was a successful season, despite ending in heartbreak in the World Series, instead of looking back, Judge is already looking forward to the future — a future that he hopes contains Juan Soto.
Overshadowing Judge’s MVP award — essentially a foregone conclusion by the middle of the season — is where his teammate Soto will end up this offseason. Unlike the slugger’s unanimous MVP, the question of which team’s uniform Soto will don next season is much hazier.
For what it’s worth, New York is considered one of the favorites to land the free agent after he spent a full season in pinstripes and had one of the best seasons of his career all the way to a World Series appearance. However, so is New York — the Mets, that is — and owner Steve Cohen‘s incredibly deep pockets.
But the race to sign Soto is not a two horse one as many other teams have met with the 26-year-old this offseason. And while both New York teams appear to have a good shot at his services, it’s also entirely possible he lands elsewhere.
With so much to think about, Judge is giving Soto his space to come to the decision on his own as opposed to trying to convince him to stay in the Bronx. After all, Judge knows about as well as anybody what Soto must be experiencing after his own sweepstakes captivated the baseball world following the 2022 season.
“I haven’t talked to him at all,” Judge said. “I think the best thing is to really give those guys space. You know I talked to him all season and he knows how we feel about him and I think the most important thing is now letting him do his thing with his family, pray about it, talk with people and come to the right decision for him and his family.”
If Soto were to re-sign with the Yankees, they would retain their 1-2 punch in Soto and Judge that made them so difficult to pitch to last season. However, it would also mean shelling out around $100 million annually to just two players, assuming Soto nets the type of deal that has been projected.
After signing Judge to a nine-year, $360 million contract, not to mention four more years of Gerrit Cole‘s nine-year, $324 million contract on the books, would it be wise of the Bombers to invest more in Soto?
Whether they do or don’t, though, will have nothing to do with Judge wanting to be the highest-paid player on the team.
“Honestly, it ain’t my money. I really don’t care as long as we get the best players, we get the most that we can I’m happy with whatever,” Judge said. “That’s never been something on my mind about who gets paid the most, it’s just whatever we can do to get the best players I’ll take it. I think that’s what it kinda comes down to.”
That’s exactly the kind of response one would think an MVP award winner would say and it’s been Judge’s attitude ever since he got the big leagues.
As for which MVP season he likes better, this one or 2022 when he broke the AL single-season home run record (as if there’s a wrong answer)?
“I would say I like ’24 a little better I think,” he said with a laugh.
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