There has been much speculation on where New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge could potentially end up after another disappointing postseason for New York.
Judge offered an interesting tidbit on Thursday that may reveal where he may potentially be heading in free agency this offseason.
In an interview with Yankees writer Bryan Hoch, Judge revealed that winning is ultimately the most important factor that will go into his free agency decision.
“For me, I want to win,” said Judge. “I’ve come pretty close with the Yankees. My ultimate, most important thing is I want to be on a team with a winning culture and a commitment to winning. First and foremost, it’s a winning culture and a winning future.”
Judge: “For me, I want to win. I’ve come pretty close with the Yankees. … My ultimate, most important thing is I want to be on a team with a winning culture and a commitment to winning. First and foremost, it’s a winning culture and a winning future.”
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) November 18, 2022
Aaron Judge on his free agency: “So far, so good. I had some positive talks with Hal. I’m looking forward to getting this free agency process started.”
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) November 18, 2022
It’s unclear whether Judge ultimately views the Yankees organization as one that has a “commitment to winning”, but fans certainly took the chance to interpret his words in many different ways on social media.
Welcome to the Astros https://t.co/P6CkGvckvW
— Spencer Newsom (@turkalurk12) November 18, 2022
winning you say? https://t.co/iipPmN3XkZ pic.twitter.com/s2kNqUkDqY
— David (@LeDareDavid) November 18, 2022
So probably not with a team that hasn’t sniffed a World Series in 13 years. https://t.co/TC8dhje4yL
— Ryan Weiss (@ryanweiss1225) November 18, 2022
So not the Yankees, then https://t.co/z1xrkMY1JP
— Jackson Love (@jmlove_34) November 18, 2022
That means not resigning with the Yankees 🙃 https://t.co/DDAf7Bt4QE
— matty estobro 🔜 Bonnaroo (@EstoBro) November 18, 2022
While the Yankees have been a pretty constant postseason threat during Judge’s tenure in New York, they haven’t been able to secure a World Series championship since 2009.
At the very least, this is a message to the Yankees organization that they need to surround him with a winning team moving forward if he does indeed re-sign with New York.
This message from Judge comes on the same day that he received the AL MVP award after hitting an American League record 62 home runs last year.
Replacing Judge would be nearly impossible for the Yankees, and it seems like they will need to make some big changes this offseason if they plan on enticing Aaron Judge to re-sign.
