When Aaron Judge re-signed with the New York Yankees in the winter of 2022, he essentially made two commitments: leading the team to a World Series title as the unquestioned long-term face of the franchise, and accepting all of the pressures and expectations that come with being captain.
Thus far, he’s failed to do the first one, and questions are mounting regarding his ability to accomplish the second feat. Judge has faced increased criticism over the last year, ranging from his failure to publicly hold his Yankees teammates accountable to accusations that he mishandled leading Team USA during the World Baseball Classic.
The latest strike against Judge (pun only slightly intended) came this past weekend while discussing Team USA’s WBC performance. Judge said that family and friends told him that they felt Team USA lacked the outward passion that other teams, such as Italy and the Dominican Republic, displayed while celebrating clutch moments and long home runs.
“If they’re going to say we don’t have the passion — my passion is grinding in this [batting] cage when nobody’s watching,” Judge told reporters. “You know, grinding as a 6-year-old in the backyard with my dad. That’s where our passion came from as kids.
“If I don’t show it outwardly like that, it doesn’t mean I don’t love the game,” Judge added.
Judge might be one of the greatest power threats we’ve ever seen, but he remains tone-deaf when it comes to a leadership position.
Aaron Judge still doesn’t understand what it means to be a modern MLB captain
In fairness to Judge, most of Team USA’s supposed leadership failed the squad throughout the WBC. Catcher Cal Raleigh had an ugly spat with Mariners teammate Randy Arozarena that led to the latter publicly — and explicitly — criticizing the reigning AL home run leader. Bryce Harper dismissed the WBC’s significance by saying that it doesn’t compare to the Olympics.
And, of course, manager Mark DeRosa’s various gaffes nearly cost his team a spot in the quarterfinals. The fact that Team USA nearly won the championship still feels like a miracle.
None of this is to say that the responsibility solely falls on Judge. It’s nonetheless telling, though, that he seemingly never holds himself accountable, much less his teammates. The days of a captain — or, at the very least, a team’s veteran leader — letting his play do the talking and treating everything like business are nearing the end. Major League Baseball has spent the last decade embracing bat flips and pitchers loudly celebrating escaping a scoring threat.
Judge’s strong, silent type routine would have worked far better in 2006. It’s surprising that he never took a page from CC Sabathia or Brett Gardner’s book, both of whom managed to balance leading by typical example and having no problem making their voice and emotions heard. Heck, Sabathia once passed up an incentive-related bonus by throwing behind an opposing player while standing up for teammate Austin Romine — and, by extension, the entire Yankees team — during a 2018 feud with the rival Rays.
Can Aaron Judge become the captain the Yankees need? Probably not
There’s a cliché that we tend to forget that athletes are human beings, too. Asking someone to radically overhaul their entire personality, whether they’re an average Joe or a future Hall of Famer, is incredibly difficult if not outright impossible.
I’ve argued previously that the Yankees need a captain who publicly stresses accountability rather than simply parroting the usual talking points about a desire to win and how a World Series title is the ultimate goal. We know that, Aaron.
You don’t need some kind of Magic 8 Ball app to know how the Yankees’ season will go. At some point, the team will run into a prolonged slump, and Judge won’t challenge his teammates the way Derek Jeter or Don Mattingly would have. If Anthony Volpe resumes his recent history of errors and baserunning mistakes, Judge will shrug his shoulders.
If Judge can’t lead a team featuring some of the world’s best players, what chance do the Yankees have? Think about that the next time you post #AllRise or put Judge on your Yankees’ Mount Rushmore.