MLB rumors: Yankees almost traded Aaron Judge to the Braves once. Yes, really.
By Mark Powell
ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan dropped perhaps the craziest trade that never was involving the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and superstar Aaron Judge.
While such a trade would never happen these days — and we don’t know the approximate timeline of such a deal — the thought of Aaron Judge roaming the outfield with Ronald Acuña and Michael Harris is downright frightening. It nearly came to fruition in a move that would’ve been the worst of Brian Cashman’s career.
The trade itself included 10 players — all of whom were likely prospects or very young at the time, hence why such a trade was discussed in the first place. Here’s the breakdown:
New York Yankees receive:
- Jason Heyward
- Andrelton Simmons
- B.J. Upton
- Chris Johnson
- David Carpenter
Atlanta Braves receive
- Aaron Judge
- Luis Severino
- Gary Sanchez
- Manny Bañuelos
- Ian Clarkin
MLB rumors: Braves almost acquired Aaron Judge from Yankees
I’m old and got it backward. The deal actually would’ve sent Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez, Manny Bañuelos and Ian Clarkin to Atlanta for Jason Heyward, Andrelton Simmons, B.J. Upton, Chris Johnson and David Carpenter. Safe to say Yankees are happy they didn’t say yes.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 5, 2023
As Adam Weinrib of Yanks Go Yard explains, this trade could have destroyed the ‘Baby Bombers’ era before it even began.
"“The Baby Bombers Era might not have brought the World Series titles Yankee fans envisioned back in mid-2017, or after a crushing ALCS loss that season that still felt like the “start of something.”But … at least it happened, right? At least Aaron Judge is the Yankees Captain and will be here for life instead of being an Atlanta Braves outfielder. At least Luis Severino has a contract year to work with in the Bronx instead of the Battery. At least the Yankees didn’t have to absorb the decline years of Jason Heyward and BJ Upton.”"
To put it simply, yes, this would have been terrible for the Yankees. While none of the other players in this trade on New York’s side of things lived up to their tremendous expectations, losing Judge would’ve made such a deal an emphatic failure on Cashman’s part.
Judge remains the face of the franchise, and his success could come to define this era of Yankees baseball. Instead, he could’ve been a Brave.
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