Yanks GM on Judge: ‘We’ll see how this plays out’
NEW YORK — When it comes to Aaron Judge and his future with the New York Yankees, mum is the word.
General manager Brian Cashman declined to comment Friday on whether he has been in contract with Judge’s representatives on a new deal. Cashman, however, did not tiptoe around the importance of Judge to the organization’s plans for this offseason and beyond.
“When you make these commitments on players, you know he’s a fan favorite,” Cashman said during a news conference at Yankee Stadium on Friday. “He interacts with our fans extremely well. He’s respected within that clubhouse, handles his business as good as you possibly can. He’s an elite performer — among the game’s best, if not the best player. With all that being said, those are the types of players you want to retain and have as long as you possibly can.”
Judge’s historic 2022 season — he hit .311/.425/.686 with an American League-record 62 homers and 131 RBIs — has the 6-foot-7 slugger in position to receive one of the biggest contracts in baseball history this offseason.
Cashman said owner Hal Steinbrenner will spend time gauging the market for Judge this offseason to get a sense for what kind of commitment the team will be willing to make moving forward. The fact that Judge is a player who brings fans to the ballpark will play a role in how much money the Yankees would be willing to commit to a long-term contract.
“As George Steinbrenner said, he puts fannies in the seats,” Cashman said. “People want to go watch that guy play, and you want to put great teams on the field that they want to come here to watch compete and win. Certain individual players transcend the team and everything stops when they’re at the bat or they have the ball in their hand. He’s one of those types of talents.”
Whether or not Judge returns to New York will shape the trajectory of the Yankees’ offseason. Because signing Judge would represent the biggest expense for the team, the front office is making contingency plans based on whether it can sign the star slugger and how it would proceed this offseason if it can’t.
“[Judge is] going to dictate the dance steps to his free agency and he has worked extremely hard to earn this position, so we’ll see how this plays out,” Cashman said. “It can tie you up a little bit along the way, but he’s not the only guy that we’re needing to deal with. He’s the most important, but if he came in here today and said, ‘Oh, man, I’m signing up, let’s go,’ there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he had a conversation with Judge in his office at the end of the season and expressed his appreciation for their relationship and how it has grown over the years.
“Of course I hope he’s back and a Yankee forever,” Boone said. “I can’t think of a better guy that you want to be leading your team and leading your organization, and hopefully that all works out. But my conversations with him now are just communicating with him through the winter and hoping that it works out. But, obviously, that’s above me.”
While Steinbrenner committed to Boone returning as manager, questions surround Cashman’s future with the organization. Cashman’s contract expired at the end of October and he remains an at-will employee of the team. He continues to hold planning meetings with the rest of the front office, and said he was told by Steinbrenner that there is interest in keeping him with the team.
Though his future is up in the air, Cashman remains focused on shaping the Yankees’ plans to be a better team for 2023 and win the World Series — with or without Judge.
“We got a lot of other ones we need to deal with to put ourselves in a better position to navigate not just the Astros, but every other up-and-comer that’s pushing their way into the mix to represent the American League in the World Series next year,” Cashman said. “We obviously want that to be us, but that’s something we haven’t been able to push through.
“Regardless of the acknowledgement that Aaron Judge is such an important piece here, he’s one of many that we hope to accomplish in different forms and fashions.”
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is starting to take shape.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. become the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He has since been followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.
As the entrants are announced, we’ll add them to the running list below — and break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 9 | Longest: 467 feet
Why he could win: Acuna has been crushing it since he returned to the lineup May 23 after knee surgery. Indeed, his numbers are even better than during his MVP season in 2023. It should help that he’ll be hitting in front of his home fans in Atlanta: Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in 2015 and Bryce Harper with the Nationals in 2018 rode the loud support to Derby titles. Acuna’s raw power should also translate well to the Derby: Among players with at least 500 at-bats since 2023, he has the longest average home run distance in the majors.
Why he might not: Will he run into Pete Alonso again? Acuna competed in the 2019 and 2022 contests, losing both times to Alonso by a single home run (in the semifinals in 2019 and in the first round in 2022). The home-field advantage can also perhaps be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first with 41 home runs but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 35 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, with 32 home runs, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he can win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he won’t: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the board after Tommy Pham‘s two-run home run in the third inning at Kansas City on Monday night ended a 30-inning scoreless streak.
The Pirates had been shut out in all three games at Seattle during their previous series.
However, they tallied another loss against the Royals, losing 9-3.
The scoreless streak included Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners in which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes threw 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings before the Pirates gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Before beginning this nine-game trip with the sweep by the Mariners, the Pirates had blanked the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive home games. Their streak of playing in six straight shutouts matched the longest in major league history.
Pham, a 12-year veteran who is in his first season with the Pirates, bookended the scoreless skid with RBIs. He drove in a seventh-inning run with a groundout Wednesday during the 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike