"Maybe they didn't connect" - Aaron Judge comes under fire from ex-Yankees catcher for controversial Juan Soto decision

Former MLB pro Erik Kratz weighed in on Yankees captain Aaron Judge's approach to his ex-teammate Juan Soto entering free agency. Kratz suggested that if he were in Judge's position, he would actively "hound" Soto to reconsider and stay.

Soto's decision came after the Yankees' World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, sparking widespread speculation. Since then, he has been linked to several teams, including the Mets, Phillies, Blue Jays, and Red Sox, but nothing has been finalized yet.

While Juan Soto is in line for a monumental contract, potentially between $500M and $700M, which could surpass Shohei Ohtani's record-breaking deal with the Dodgers, Judge isn’t concerned about the Dominican star earning more than him and has not reached out to Soto during the ongoing free agency discussions.

Speaking on his show Foul Territory on November 26, Kratz suggested that Aaron Judge's hands-off attitude might stem from how he wanted to be treated during his own free agency two years ago.

"Maybe this is how [Aaron] Judge wanted to go about his free agency," Kratz said. "He just went through free agency two years ago. Maybe he was like, 'All I need is my family, my faith, and what else did he mention there? And my money.' Maybe that's how he wanted people to treat him when he was in free agency."

"I don't wanna go too far into like, 'Maybe they didn't connect over the year.' If somebody is my boy, I am hounding him to stay with my team. I am hounding him to be like, 'Hey, you can't screw this up,'" he added.

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Juan Soto not looking forward to Aaron Judge convincing him to stay with Yankees, claims Erik Kratz

Juan Soto pictured during New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles | Image Source: Getty

Erik Kratz made it clear that if Juan Soto were his teammate, he would go all out to convince him to stay with the New York Yankees, unlike Aaron Judge. However, he also acknowledged that the Dominican may not be seeking such efforts.

"Sometimes when guys come over for one year, they don't always make that connection for one season. Obviously, I am going so far into it here. I could be stepping out of bounds by saying that," Kratz said during his Foul Territory appearance.

He added:

"But I would like somebody to sell me on staying with the team but also I don't think that's what he [Juan Soto] is looking for."

As the Soto sweepstakes continue, Yankees' owner Hal Steinbrenner made a bold statement, declaring that the team can sign whomever they want given their projected payroll of $238M for 2025.