In the Juan Soto sweepstakes, one player’s name has been dragged through it all, and it’s Aaron Judge. A huge part of the reason is his silence. During the Juan Soto run, fans expected Judge to talk Soto into returning to the team. Meanwhile, news about how Judge didn’t end up talking with him in the first place made everyone shocked. That led to quite a backlash too; later, though, one came to know that Soto in fact had his phone unreachable the entire time, he didn’t want chaos to ruin his decision-making skills.

Now that story is bygone, and the dust has settled. Soto is settled well in the Mets, and Aaron Judge arrived at spring training already. But while everything is new, the same old question on Soto has not stopped coming Judge’s way. The New York captain was asked about Juan Soto and his narrative that he had a better chance to win in the Mets. And just like every time, he was tightlipped. But through his teeth, he did mention he doesn’t agree with Soto.

“That’s his opinion. He can say what he wants; I definitely disagree with it. I wasn’t too surprised by it; I think that’s where he wanted to be,” said Judge. Judge and Soto were known to be the Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth of modern baseball. But it seems like that closeness just died down when Juan Soto decided to head to their crosstown rivals.

While Juan Soto has been making remarks about how New York has always been a Mets town, Judge is more respectful. “Juan Soto’s a one-of-a-kind man. He’s a special player. I’m excited for him and his new chapter with the Mets,” said Judge. But Aaron Judge did add that even though Soto left, the New York Yankees too have added key pieces like Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and more. And it highlights that maybe they aren’t all that missing Soto anymore.

Aaron Judge brings big energy to spring training

Aaron Judge arrived at spring training and had fans reeling. The outfielder delivered his signature smile and made his way to the clubhouse. SNY shared a video of his arrival and captioned it as, ‘All Rise, Aaron Judge is here.” Judge was all smiles and very quick to express his excitement over the new fresh faces joining in. “Guys are still wanting to improve, still wanting to get better. They are going to add such a different dynamic to this team. It really lengthens out this whole lineup,” Judge mentioned, noting that one can’t replace a guy like Juan Soto, but he highlighted, “You bring in guys like this that are All-Stars, MVP-caliber players; we did a pretty good job.”

Right now, they sure have a lot to look forward to. But this season, Judge isn’t just motivated by the run for another championship. His motivation to do better has become even stronger after his daughter Nora Rose Judge has landed in his life. Born on January 27, she just is the extra drive that Judge needs. Judge spoke about how his family is fueling his passion. “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.”

Aaron Judge also admitted that he is getting older but is determined to push the envelope of his performance and stay on top of his game. Do you think he will start out strong? Let us know in the comments.