"Aaron Judge is going to be 33 this year" - MLB Radio host chooses Juan Soto over Yankees captain in bold claim

Aaron Judge and Juan Soto combined to be as productive as the majority of the best duos in MLB history last year. They had 19.2 fWAR between them and recorded a combined wRC+ of 199. They are no longer teammates, which begs the question of which player should be taken over the other right now.

MLB analyst Sal Licata acknowledged Judge being the best player he's ever seen play, but said he'd choose Soto for a couple of reasons for next year and beyond.

"Look Aaron Judge is the best player I've ever seen ... but I'd rather have Juan Soto for two reasons," Licata said. "Number one, his age. At some point, players in their 30s start to decline. You know about Judge and his big body. He's going to be 33 this year."

The analyst added that Judge's injury history does not bode well. The second point Licata mentioned was that Soto had "the biggest guts of any player" in baseball. He pointed out that Soto is "unafraid" and has proven himself during the postseason.

Soto excelled last postseason with the New York Yankees while it took Judge a while to get going in October.

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MLB insider claims Juan Soto helped Yankees by leaving

Soto's decision to go to the New York Mets left a gaping hole, which the Yankees have looked to fill with Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Devin Williams and Max Fried.

Juan Soto left the Yankees (Imagn)

That might've been a blessing in disguise, according to MLB analyst Chris Gimenez.

He said via Marca:

"I think Soto did the Yankees a favor. It allowed them to go after quality veteran players like Paul Goldschmidt. To me, this is the right decision at the right time not only for the Yankees but also for Goldie."

The Yankees offered Soto $760 million and roughly $47.5 million per year. They've spent around that much in shoring up other spots on their roster and may not be done. They've been linked to Alex Bregman in free agency.