The reality is finally sinking in for the New York Yankee fans—they have lost Juan Soto! The outfielder had his introductory press conference decked in not the pinstripes but white and blue, appearing with the New York Mets’ colors on December 12. He answered many questions; one among them was whether he was in touch with former Yankee teammates, now that he signed with the Mets. In a surprising take, Soto denied being in touch.

“I haven’t talked to any of those guys. We talked to them through the playoffs, at the end of the playoffs. But after I [had] this process, I haven’t talked to anyone [on the Yankees],” Juan Soto claimed. This raised many eyebrows in the baseball community, given he had such a great rapport in the locker room with the rest of the players. Plus, it seemed strange that no one from the Yankees had reached out to Soto; however, there was a major reason they couldn’t communicate, as revealed by Bob Nightingale.

The reason for Juan Soto’s silent treatment

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale cleared up the mystery of Juan Soto’s lack of communication with his former Yankee teammates, mentioning that the 26-year-old had changed his number. During the free agency, he was bombarded with several calls; hence, to protect his sanity and privacy, he decided to change it. But now that the dust has settled, he will get in touch with his old teammates.

One of those calls sure might go to Aaron Judge. Juan Soto has mentioned that he wants to maintain the bond he shared with Judge during the season. Soto also cleared up a few of the rumors that were going around about the chances of bad blood brewing between both players, affirming, “At the end of the day, we’re still friends; we’re still cool. It’s just business. The relationship that we created last year is going to stay there forever.”

Well, the duo were compared to the legends like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Sadly, though, their journey playing as teammates has come to an end. However, not many fans are buying into the Soto-changing-his-number theory on the internet.

Fans are not buying Soto’s phone story

With rumors surrounding Soto’s present connections with the Yankees, fans have poured in their narratives on social media. One such user had a genuine question: if Soto changed his number and the New York Yankees players were unable to get in touch with him, couldn’t he connect with them instead? Moreover, wouldn’t Scott Boras possibly make communication easy between him and his former team, if Soto wanted to?

Judge was asked if he made any calls to Soto during the off-season, to which, he replied, “I haven’t talked to him at all; I think the best thing is to give those guys space.” Well, some fans feel that the ‘phone aspect’ coming from Soto’s end could be an excuse at most. Interestingly, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported just two days prior that Mets Brandon Nimmo had gotten Soto’s number many weeks ago, and he made efforts to text and sway him in the Mets’ favor.

Another commenter pointed out that Soto didn’t drop in a congratulatory message for Judge winning the MVP. award. And while on the outside it might look like Soto and Judge are friends, the reality can be different. Stephen A. Smith had said, “I’ve heard that Juan Soto wasn’t really feeling Aaron Judge. I don’t know the particulars.”

Now that Juan Soto is heading to the Mets, one fan pointed out how a reunion could be far off, given that he gave a rather erratic statement in his introductory conference. Soto mentioned, “New York is a Mets town,” and the Bronx fans are not thrilled listening to this; some, like Rich Eisen, literally shouted, “Get outta here!”

Another commenter had a short yet sarcastic take on the matter. Well, but for most fans, it sounds like an excuse. Mostly because it’s shocking—especially given Soto has always spoken highly of Aaron Judge. And now that such an important time of his life has come, his not communicating about future stakes seems absurd to many.

At present, the fact is: Soto has moved on, and so have the Yankees, as they are targeting other key players this off-season. What do you think of Juan Soto’s reasoning with a changed number? Share your take below.