Yankees Trolled 'Arson Judge' Tweet With Soto Deal

The New York Yankees made the splash of the 2023-2024 MLB offseason with their acquisition of superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

READ: JUAN SOTO TO THE YANKEES IS BEING FINALIZED, A BAD MOVE FOR BASEBALL

But the real hero of the Soto deal has to be whoever is running the Yankees' social media accounts. In an amazing troll of baseball reporter Jon Heyman, the team's first official acknowledgement of the Soto trade was in reference to last year's infamous "Arson" Judge tweet.

During the 2022-2023 free agency process, Judge met with several teams, including his hometown San Francisco Giants. And Heyman, clearly fed some bad intel, intended to post that he believed Aaron Judge was going to be a Giant. Instead, he posted "Arson Judge appears headed to Giants."

Almost immediately afterwards, denials began flying from multiple camps and Heyman had to retract his tweet. But a baseball comedy legend was born. And considering Judge wound up resigning in New York, Yankees staff were quite obviously waiting for the opportune moment to bring "Arson" back.

The team official Twitter account posted late Wednesday evening, "Jon Soto appears headed to Yankees."

Simple. Brutal. Brilliant.

SAN DIEGO - Juan Soto celebrates with Manny Machadoof the San Diego Padres after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 3 at Petco Park. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)

Yankees To Have Arson And Jon Past 2024?

The new outfield pairing in New York instantly makes the Yankees the team to beat in the American League East.

Soto and Judge are two of baseball's best hitters, with a rare combination of patience and power. Though Judge in center field and Soto in a corner spot isn't exactly the best defensive combination.

Still, the two superstars make the top of the Yankees lineup significantly more formidable than it was in 2023. That much is for certain. What's not so certain is how long the team's fans will be able to enjoy it.

Obviously the trade is cause for celebration, and raises hopes for the 2024 season. But as we've seen in the past few postseasons, no matter how many games you win in the regular season, there's little to nothing you can do to give yourself a better chance at winning the World Series. That being the case, it's imperative that the Yankees try to lock Soto up for the long term and give themselves more opportunities to win with their two superstars.

Except, of course, he's represented by Scott Boras.

At the moment, the Yankees traded not for the remainder of Jon Soto's career, but what he provides in 2024. For the fans, it's time to hope that their first impression is a good one. And that Jon Heyman isn't the first to report on his free agency after the season.