Yankees' Aaron Judge reflects on Juan Soto's defection to Mets ahead of Bronx return 

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge previously admitted he "wasn’t too surprised" that All-Star outfielder Juan Soto made the move from the Yankees to the New York Mets this past December.

With Soto set to make his Yankee Stadium return for the Mets' three-game series in the Bronx that gets underway on Friday night, Judge once again reflected on what was the biggest story of the MLB offseason. 

"It’s definitely personal for the fans and they can have their opinion, and we’ll kind of keep it at that because Soto is a good friend of mine," Judge recently said about the 26-year-old's defection, per Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "We built a great relationship when he was here, so I’m always wishing him nothing for the best. I think Soto made that decision for what he thought was best for him and his family, so nobody can really say anything about that besides him."

In his one season with the Yankees, Soto proved to be half of a dynamic one-two punch that helped the club reach the 2024 World Series. The Yankees ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Fall Classic, and Soto later signed a 15-year, $765M contract that could reportedly exceed $800M total to join the Mets. To compare, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner offered Soto $760M over 16 years. 

Additionally, multiple stories mentioned how the Mets felt "like a family" for Soto as he evaluated his free-agency options. 

"When I saw the years and amount of money, it was just amazing news," Judge added about Soto signing with the Mets. "Did it hurt? It’s tough to say. Obviously, I want the Yankees to build the best team, and I know anytime you add a Juan Soto, he’s going to make the team better. So that part of it definitely stung a little bit. I loved hitting behind Soto. I loved learning what I did from him and competing with him. He’s a guy that is worried about one thing, which is winning. So that was fun to see."

Much has been made about Soto's slow start to his Mets tenure. He ended Wednesday's MLB action slashing .255/.380/.465 with an .845 OPS, eight home runs and 20 RBI on the season. Nevertheless, the first-place Mets will head into the Bronx at 28-16. 

Meanwhile, offseason acquisitions such as ace Max Fried, outfielder Cody Bellinger and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt have helped the Yankees climb to the top of the American League East standings with a 25-18 mark. 

Per Will Sammon and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, Soto insisted on Wednesday that he won't "mind" if he hears boos and jeers while at Yankee Stadium this weekend. If nothing else, his at-bats from Friday through Sunday could make for must-see television.