Aaron Judge pressuring Yankees to make bigger moves and improve team

The New York Yankees managed to lock down star Aaron Judge for nine more years, and he’s coming back with big visions for the team.

The New York Yankees, once considered one of the most dominant teams in the league, have unfortunately struggled to reach the World Series since their last win in 2009. They’ve locked down Aaron Judge, one of the best players in the league, for another nine years, and he’s hoping to influence big changes for the team.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Yanks are targeting Carlos Rodon because “they desire to please Judge, who’s told them he’d love to see improvements.” They also like Rodon’s ‘tough guy’ personality and feel Judge can control it as he’s set to become captain.

The Yankees have a pretty good rotation already, but they could definitely stand to make improvements. Among all teams in the league, they had the third-best ERA (3.30), opponent batting average (.219) and WHIP (1.12). They have some solid starters, including Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino and Gerrit Cole, but they could strengthen the rotation with Rodon.

Signing Rodon will also serve as a disadvantage to other teams, as he’s one of the best starters still on the market and many teams are eyeing him.

Signing Carlos Rodon could be advantage for Yankees

Of course, taking Rodon off the market would prevent other teams from signing him, limiting their options for improvement. The Yankees already have one of the best rotations, so it definitely wouldn’t be a long shot toward their own improvement.

Their current players have been good as well, but some troubles arose during the regular season that proved they could stand to have another great starter on the roster.

Luis Severino, in particular, missed over two months toward the end of the season from a low-grade right lat strain. This was particularly tough as he was pitching extremely well over May and June, producing an ERA of 3.36, batting average against of .196 and WHIP of 1.00. He pitched just two games in July before being out until September, in which he only pitched two games.

Losing such a solid player is definitely noticeable, and their worst months were July and August, when Severino was out.

Rodon would definitely help with depth, as Cole and Cortes were essentially the only great starters left. While Rodon doesn’t have the best history on the mound, he’s truly found his rhythm over the past two seasons with an ERA of 2.63, BAA of .196 and WHIP of 1.00.

At his best, he’d help provide more stability in the rotation and more depth in the event that one of the best starters gets injured.