The Yankees locked up Aaron Judge to a long-term deal, and the expectations will be high on the reigning American League MVP in 2023.
Judge received the title of team captain, the first since Derek Jeter, and the New York slugger is coming off a season where he broke Roger Maris’ AL home run record. The 30-year-old outfielder arrived to spring training with the question: Can he do it again?
“We’ll see,” Judge said Monday with a grin, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “I don’t really like putting a number on it. I like going out there and trying to control what I can control. But you never know what could happen, so we’ll see about 62.”
Judge has collected multiple accolades in his Bronx career, but the Yankees still are without a World Series title since 2009. New York was swept by the Houston Astros, 4-0, in a best-of-seven AL Championship Series, which created a ruckus from fans who wanted more from the team.
“I’ve got some goals written down, but my individual stats always take care of themselves if I’m focused on the team out there,” Judge said. “The game tells you what you need to do. If I’m going up there thinking about trying to hit a homer or thinking about what my batting average is going to be, I’m probably going to walk away from that at-bat after three pitches.
“After everything that transpired last season, I’m going to still try to do what I did last year, which is take it one at-bat at a time and focus on helping this team win.”
Manager Aaron Boone already has speculated on the idea of moving things around in the lineup, including a possible alignment change for Judge. And while the four-time All-Star isn’t worried about his individual stats, they might be needed if the Yankees want to reach their high expectations.
Judge, meanwhile, is getting plenty of love in the betting world entering 2023. Only Shohei Ohtani (+200) has better odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win AL MVP (+450), and Judge is also the favorite to lead the majors in home runs (+600) and RBIs (+700).
