Aaron Judge admits Juan Soto is irreplaceable, but picks out new Yankees signings who can bridge the gap

Aaron Judge won't have Juan Soto batting ahead of him in the lineup this year. After one historic season together, the two have parted ways. Someone else will be ahead of Judge in the lineup from now on.

Soto got offered $760 million to stay with the Yankees and be Judge's running mate for essentially the rest of their careers, but he signed for one less year and $5 million more to join the New York Mets.

Judge has acknowledged that Soto can't be replaced, but he does have his eye on some teammates who can help bridge the gap. He said, via NJ, on Monday:

"We’re going to have a lot of options. You can never replace a Juan Soto-type player, but the superstars we’ve brought in are going to give us a chance.”

One such player who Judge believes will help is Cody Bellinger, of whom he said:

“He’s been a superstar in the (National) League since he came up, and he’s made himself versatile to be able to play center field, left field and first."

The Yankees also added Paul Goldschmidt on offense and brought in Max Fried and Devin Williams on the other side of the ball.

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Aaron Judge addresses shift in offensive philosophy sans Juan Soto

Juan Soto was a guy who "could do everything at the plate" according to Aaron Judge. He could take a walk, hit for power and hit for contact. Judge thinks, in the New York Yankees offseason spending after missing out on Soto, that the team has added a layer, though.

Aaron Judge opened up on the new-look Yankees (Imagn)

They can't replace Soto, but Judge thinks they have more speed now. He said via NJ:

“Goldie can hit home runs, he can steal 20 bases. Along with Jazz (Chisholm), we’re more dynamic. It’s going to pay off in the long run. Maybe we’re not going to slug it out of the park like before, but we’re going to put more pressure on the pitcher with our speed and the length of our lineup.”

Cody Bellinger applies to that as well. He's stolen 91 bases in eight years in the MLB.