Aaron Judge says his Yankees teammates are more hungry to win after losing World Series last season
TAMPA, Fla. – Among Juan Soto’s reasons for choosing the Mets over the Yankees, the outfielder said, was he felt he had a better chance of winning a title in Queens than in the Bronx.
Not surprisingly, Yankees captain Aaron Judge, while not torching his former teammate, took issue with that, albeit doing so with a smile.
“That’s his opinion. He can say what he wants. I definitely disagree with him,” Judge said Monday after the Yankees went through their first full-squad workout.
As for Soto’s decision to take the Mets' 15-year, $765 million contract offer over the Yankees’ offer of $760 million over 16 years, Judge said: “I wasn’t too surprised by it. I think that’s where he wanted to be, I think that’s where it’s best for him and his family. He got a pretty nice deal over there. You can’t say no to that. I’m happy for him. He got a good deal, he’s going to be in a great spot. It’s going to be great having him in town and be battling back and forth for quite a few years. I’m definitely happy with him.”
Judge said he “tried” to text with Soto in the offseason but “he got a different number,” though the two did eventually “chit-chatted a little bit.”
“Soto’s one of a kind, he’s a special player,” Judge said of the impact of losing Soto from the lineup.
Soto and Judge, of course, formed the deadliest 2-3 lineup punch in the sport in 2024 – and one of the best such combinations in baseball history – as Soto hit .288 with 41 homers, 31 doubles, 109 RBIs and a .989 OPS, while Judge hit .322 with 58 homers, 36 doubles, 144 RBIs and a 1.159 OPS en route to capturing his second American League MVP.
Nonetheless, Judge is optimistic about the 2025 lineup, mentioning the additions of veterans Cody Bellinger, a former MVP, and Paul Goldschmidt, one of the best first basemen of the last generation.
“We added a lot of new pieces here, starting with Bellinger and Goldschmidt,” Judge said. “They’re going to add such a different dynamic to this team. It really lengthens out our whole lineup. When you have those guys batting in the middle of the order, a lot of good things are going happen. You can’t replace a guy like Juan Soto, but you bring in guys like this that are All-Star, MVP-caliber players, you’re doing a pretty good job.”
Speaking earlier in the week of the Yankees' lineup, manager Aaron Boone gave the front office high marks for its winter work.
“We did a lot to try to keep him here,’’ Boone said of Soto. “But there’s a lot of ways to build a great team.”
The Yankees first big move after losing Soto to the Mets was signing lefthander Max Fried to an 8-year, $218 million deal, a move Judge heartily endorsed as well.
“He’s got five or six different pitches, he’s got great command of all them,” Judge said. “He can run it up to 95, 96, 97 on you. He’s a guy that’s determined, he’s not going to back down. You saw him pitch in big game after big game, especially during their World Series run [in 2021]. He’s a competitor. He’s competitor with great stuff. He could throw one pitch and get you out with that pitch, but he’s got five or six.”
After the Yankees fell in five games to the Dodgers last October – collapsing in a nightmare fifth inning with three errors, the first of those by Judge on a routine fly ball to center – the outfielder said: “I think falling short in the World Series will stick with me until I die.”
Judge said he was able to turn the page on the loss a few days after the season but said he’s noticed from his returning teammates an increased hunger to finish the job this year as the feeling was “a lot worse” than missing the playoffs in 2023.
“2023 left a bad taste in everybody’s mouth, but I think this past season, getting a chance to kind of nibble on that final piece, getting close to a championship, I think that really drives that hunger and passion of the guys,” said Judge, who had a busy winter as his wife, Samantha, delivered the couple’s first child, Nora, in late January. “Checking in all offseason on certain guys…and they were ready to go a couple of weeks after the season was over. It’s going to be a fun year.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.