Aaron Judge Expertly Navigates Comments Made by Former Yankees Teammate Juan Soto

The New York Yankees sit atop the AL East entering Wednesday's action, but their 10-7 record isn't quite what anyone had envisioned when they put together their roster this offseason.

Despite losing Juan Soto to the crosstown New York Mets, it felt like the Yankees actually upgraded the entirety of their 26-man group, creating more depth and addressing some of the glaring holes that were present during the World Series.

But injuries struck, and entering the 2025 campaign, there was some concern they'd take a step back.

Aaron Judge is powering his team again, though, and as long as he stays healthy and in the lineup, New York is going to have a chance to win with him slashing .381/.494/.730, hitting six homers and driving in 20 runs through 17 games thus far.

The same hot start can't be said for Soto with the Mets.

Despite him hitting a home run in back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday of this week, he's only hit three total long balls with seven RBI, slashing .250/.392/.467 through his 17 contests.

Those aren't poor numbers by any means, but he has a long way to go before reaching the .288/.419/.569 slash line with 41 homers and 109 RBI like he produced with the Yankees last year.

Soto believes it has to do with Judge no longer hitting behind him, telling the New York Post (subscription required) that "it's definitely different" without the reigning AL MVP in the same batting order as him.

"I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that. I was pitched differently last year," Soto further explained.

Those comments got back to Judge, and he expertly avoided them with a "Jeter-esque" non-answer.

"[Soto has] got probably one of the best hitters in the game behind him right now with what [Pete] Alonso's doing. It's been fun to watch. He's hitting close to .400 [.345 entering Tuesday], driving the ball all over the field, driving guys in. They're going to be just fine," the Yankees star said, per Greg Joyce per The New York Post. "I've seen Soto now watching the league for so many years and then getting a chance to see him up close — you can look at what I did last April for an example. Just keep being himself and he's going to be just fine.

While Judge was complimentary of Soto and didn't engage in anything beyond that, this was also a telling statement.

The two-time AL MVP is focused on his current team.

There was no, "he should have stayed with the Yankees" or "Soto made a mistake."

Instead, Judge paid his past teammate a compliment and left it at that.

Joyce also noted the Yankees star said he wasn't going to get into a back-and-forth with Soto on the matter, which is also signals Judge has put what happened this past winter behind him.

There are going to be plenty of moments and battles between the two New York fan bases that center around Soto and his decision to leave the Bronx for Queens. That already reared its head during a moment where Yankees fans were heard chanting a vulgar statement about the team's former star.

However, Judge didn't insert himself into this potential moment when he had the opportunity to do so, an expert move from the savvy captain.