Aaron Judge flexes his Yankees Captain muscles by airing dirty Juan Soto laundry

The 2025 New York Yankees Revenge Tour is underway with everybody currently at spring training, but it certainly doesn't feel that way when you factor in the Marcus Stroman drama, the bizarre comments from Austin Wells and DJ LeMahieu, and the early injury troubles featuring Giancarlo Stanton.

Can we look at the bright side? Sure. The bullpen has been massively upgraded. The starting rotation, with the addition of Max Fried, should be arguably the best in the league. The departures of many unwanted/unneeded players should provide a cleanse of sorts.

Perhaps the biggest of all, though? Aaron Judge arriving to Tampa emphatically, with his presence on the field and with the media making an impact on Day 1.

The mood among Yankees fans immediately shifted when Judge was seen on the field, waving to the cameras, taking batting practice and signing autographs for the kids. But his session with the media made it clear there's at least a chance this Yankees team has a different edge to them.

Judge spoke about the team being hungrier than ever after getting bounced early from the World Series, and it was a response that featured a limited amount of "uhhhhs" and "ya knows". He sounded straightforward, geniune and serious.

His response to questions about Juan Soto, however, shed a different light on his influence as the Captain. Are the Yankees about to be a "take no sh-t" group? Fans would love to see an unflappable group of players who welcome (and revel) in challenges and adversity.

Yankees' Aaron Judge gives fans what they want with responses to Juan Soto questions

Remember earlier in the offseason when everybody was befuddled as to why no Yankees players had contacted Juan Soto while he was a free agent? Or, at least, we thought that was the case. As it turns out, Judge rightfully threw the ball right back to Soto, claiming the new Mets star changed his phone number at the onset of the offseason, which is now being viewed as an obvious ploy by Scott Boras to limit outside influence as he sucked as much money as he could out of Steve Cohen.

All fine and good. It's over now. Good luck to Soto, and good luck to the Mets. And hopefully Judge's response to that pairing can end the discussion altogether.

The reigning AL MVP was asked about Soto's comments after defecting to Queens, and he gave a brutally honest answer that should send a strong message in regard to who "runs the city," if you're interested in that type of stuff.

Soto claiming the Mets had a better roadmap and pathway to the World Series was nothing but lip service so he could abide by the rules of engagement after he was given $805 million. The Yankees just got to the Fall Classic and the Mets will (likely) have to go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers annually if they even want to get there. Judge disagreed with what Soto had to say, and left it at that, but capped it off with, "That's where he wanted to be."

Judge really mastered his diplomatic delivery here. Not only did he slip in the right truthbombs in the form of a few 1-2 jabs, he made nice on everything, saying he and Soto "caught up" after everything went down and that it definitely would've been tough for his former teammate to turn down that deal with the Mets.

As for "battling for quite a few years?" Guess we'll see over that span which team is better condition to make multiple World Series runs and take home a ring.