Whatever version of the plea the fans were shouting, whether the rhythmic chants contained “please sign Soto” or “please stay Soto” or “re-sign Soto,” Juan Soto — the subject of them all, perched in right field in the eighth inning — heard them.
Aaron Judge put his right hand to his ear and asked 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 of the season to keep resetting his career-high.
Then the chants started. And they’ll almost certainly continue until Soto decides to either stay in The Bronx or take a megadeal elsewhere — even if he doesn’t appear swayed, at least on the outside.
“I don’t know,” Soto joked afterwards. “They have to talk to [general manager Brian] Cashman.”
So that became the backdrop to a portion of the eighth inning 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 Criswell and redirected it over the right-center field fence in the seventh.
Judge connected on his 51st homer of the season on Criswell’s next delivery. Three pitches later, Giancarlo Stanton’s drive cleared the fence in center.
Soto became the first Yankee since Jason Giambi in 2003 — and just the second in franchise history — to collect 108 or more walks in the team’s first 131 games of the season.
He’s at 109 with 31 regular-season games and whatever follows in the playoffs remaining.
His average jumped back up to .299, and his .606 slugging percentage and 1.034 OPS mark his highest since the condensed 2020 season.
“Fans are excited,” Judge said. “They’ve got every right to be. He’s an incredible player. He’s done a lot for us this year, and I think they definitely want to see a lot more of that to come. But it’s gonna be his decision in the end and what’s best for him and his family. So we can only, we can do what we can from the chants.”
The question, eventually, will become whether the Yankees can keep Soto — and outbid everyone else — in free agency.
Soto didn’t drop any hints Sunday, even when asked if this season, and everything that has happened within it, made him at least hope everything works out for a Yankees reunion.
“I’ll tell you that in spring training,” he said.
Judge said that after the season ends, he’ll attempt to spend some time with Soto before the sweepstakes begin.
The Post’s Jon Heyman recently polled 13 experts who collectively predicted Soto, who turns 26 in October, could land a contract worth over $520 million — and possibly as 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 next 31 games and whatever follows in the playoffs.
And those moments will likely include some serenading from fans, too.
“It’s obviously a tribute 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,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Certainly the fanbase has embraced him, and he’s embraced it right back.”
