Judge, who won his second AL MVP Award this week, said during a conference call Friday that he met with Steinbrenner in Tampa shortly after the World Series and “discussed a lot of things.”

"It doesn't mean in any given year I can't do what I want to do," Steinbrenner said. "We've got the ability to sign any player we want to sign."

At the MLB owners' meetings in Manhattan, Hal Steinbrenner spoke about the New York Yankees' recent meeting with free agent Juan Soto.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner made a “great pitch” to megastar free agent Juan Soto, according to a friend, so whether they re-sign Soto — and the Soto Sweepstakes are wide open between a possible final five teams (and maybe a sixth) — the Yankees accomplished what they needed to at their high-powered get-together Monday.

NEW YORK — For Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, the Juan Soto sweepstakes comes with some unknowns. Steinbrenner thought the Yankees’ meeting with Soto and agent Scott Boras earlier this week went well, but as of now, he has “no idea” how confident he should be about the superstar’s big decision on the open market this winter.