Whatever version of the plea the fans were shouting, whether āthe rhythmic chants contained āplease sign Sotoā or āplease stay Sotoā or āre-sign Soto,ā Juan Soto ā the subject of them all, perched in right field in the eighth inning ā heard them.
Aaron Judge put his right hand to his ear and askedź¦ for more. Soto even cracked a smile.
The pair of Yankees outfielders had just connected on the first two legs of back-to-back-to-back homers in the previous frame, blowing open an eventual 10-3 win over the Rockies on Sunday and giving Soto his 37th blast ofź¦æ the season to keep resetting his career-high.
Then the chants started. And theyāll almost certainly continue until Soto decides toš eišther stay in The Bronx or take a megadeal elsewhere ā even if he doesnāt appear swayed, at least on the outside.
āI donāt know,ā Sotāo joked afterwą²ards. āThey have to talk to [general manager Brian] Cashman.ā
So that became the backdrop to a portion of the eighth inniāng at Yankee Stadium.
After sending an RBI single down the right-field line in the second inning and drawing a walk in the fifth, Soto took the first pitch from Rockies reliever Jeff Criswešll and redirected it over the right-center field fence in the seventh.
Judge cšonnected on his 51st homer of the season on Criswellās next deš”livery. Three pitches later, Giancarlo Stantonās drive cleared the fence in center.
Soto became the first Yankee since Jason Giambi in 2003 ā ź§and just the second in franchise history ā to collect 108 or more walks in the teamās first 131 games of the season.
Heās at 109 with 31 regular-season games and whatever follź¦ows in the playoffs remaining.
His average jumped back up to .299, and his .606 slugging percentage šand 1.034 OPS mark his highest since the condensed 2020 season.
āFans are excited,ā Judge said. āTheyāve got every right to be. Heās an incredible player. Heās done a lot for us this year, and I think they definitely want to see a lot more of that to come. But itās gonna be his ą²decision in the end and whatās best for him and his family. So we can only, we can do what we can fromļ·½ the chants.ā
The question, eventually, will become whether the Yankees can keep Sź¦Æoto ā and outbid everyone else ā in free ageš±ncy.
šSoto didnāt drop any hints Sunday, even when asked if thisš season, and everything that has happened within it, made him at least hope everything works out for a Yankees reunion.
āIāll tell you that in spring training,ā he said.
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Judge said that after the season ends, heāll attempt to spend sšome time with Soto before the sweepÜ«stakes begin.
The Postās Jon Heyman recently polled 13 experts who collectively predicted Soto, who turnšs 26 in October, could land a contract worth over $520 million ā and possibly asš” high as $600 million.
There will be plenty of factors that go into determining the exact amount and exact location. Some will unfold across those nš·ext 31 games ą¶£and whatever follows in the playoffs.
Anšd those moments will likely includš§e some serenading from fans, too.
āItās obviously a tribuź¦te to somebody that came here with a lot of fanfare and a lot of expectations and has been every bit, and then some, as advertised,ā manager Aaron Boone said. āCertainly the fanbase has embraced him, and heās embraced it right back.ā