With the offseason fully underway, players from across MLB are taking some time to soak up sports other than baseball.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Chicago Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman were spotted at the ACF Fiorentina match Sunday in Florence, Italy. The pair of former teammates watched the club defeat Bologna FC 2-1 in some midseason Serie A action, and they got to take home some personalized keepsakes from the match as well.
Judge and Tauchman were both given custom Fiorentina jerseys in the stands at Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Fiorentina is owned by billionaire Rocco Commisso, who moved to New York when he was 12 years old, graduated from Columbia University and owns the New York Cosmos of the National Independent Soccer Association.
Judge and Tauchman both took photos with Giuseppe Barone, the current general manager of Fiorentina and former vice president of the New York Cosmos.
Judge made his fifth All-Star appearance this summer, but he was unable to rack up many more honors as a result of his 56 missed games. Still, Judge followed up his record-breaking 2022 campaign – in which he blasted 62 home runs – with 37 homers and a 1.019 OPS in 2023.
Tauchman played in 108 games with the Cubs, batting .252 with a .759 OPS in his first taste of big league action in nearly two years. The Yankees traded for Tauchman in March 2019, but shipped him off to the San Francisco Giants in April 2021. Tauchman spent 2022 with the Hanwha Eagles, earning KBO All-Star honors in his lone season with the Korean team.
Three full seasons after they were split up, Judge and Tauchman have reconnected overseas, watching a soccer club with strong New York ties secure big wins.
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