New York Yankees television voice Michael Kay took the fan base to task on his weekday radio show when he warned that their loud frustration with Aaron Judge’s start to the season could cost them Juan Soto this winter.
Heading into the MLB games today the Pinstripes have an impressive 16-8 record and are a half-game up in first place on the defending division champion Baltimore Orioles. While they don’t have their ace and have dealt with other injuries to key players there is reason to be very positive about the Yankees’ start to the 2024 season.
However, when it comes to New York the standard is always sky-high, and fans have let captain Aaron Judge know loud and clear they are not pleased with his first few weeks of the year. The 2022 American League MVP is hitting just .180 and has twice as many strikeouts (31) as he has hits (16) after 24 games this season.
- Aaron Judge stat (2024): .180 AVG, .315 OBP, .348 SLG, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 16 R, 31 SO
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Yankees fans booing players, even top stars, is nothing surprising but television play-by-play voice Michael Kay blasted the fan base earlier this week over booing the five-time All-Star and suggested it could scare off impending free agent Juan Soto.
New York Yankees announcer tells fans they are going to scare off Juan Soto
“This is to the Yankee fans that are listening: What are you doing?” Kay said Monday on his ESPN radio afternoon show (h/t NJ.com). “I mean, can we be friends here? What are you doing booing Aaron Judge? I understand he’s played horribly. I get it. He’s the captain of the team. He’s represented the team in the best way. I’m not saying you don’t have the right. You definitely have the right. But to what end?
“You’re trying to seduce Juan Soto to stay. And then Juan Soto sees his own fan base turning on the Yankee captain who broke the American League home run record two years ago,” he continued, “Is he not trying? If he wasn’t trying, you should boo him out of the ballpark. What are they doing? There’s nobody that’s immune to booing anymore.”
All signs point to Soto testing his value in free agency after his debut season with the team, and he is expected to look for a deal in the range of $500 million. While the New York Yankees will have the money to pay him, Kay does make an interesting point about how the demand and expectation of the fan base could push Soto to go make the same money elsewhere with less stress.
