The New York Yankees finally snapped out of their year-long funk against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, notching a desperately needed win over their arch rival at Fenway Park. One of the main reasons why? Star outfielder Aaron Judge, who got the scoring started with a massive homer over the Green Monster in the first inning.
Aaron Judge hits a homer OUT OF FENWAY 😳 pic.twitter.com/cNvOHHcUdZ
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2025
But this wasn't just any ordinary homer. It was the 362nd of his big-league career, moving him past the legendary Joe DiMaggio for sole possession of fourth place on the Yankees' all-time home run list. The only names ahead of No. 99 now? Babe Ruth (who hit 659 of his 714 homers in New York), Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493).
That is very rarefied air, to say the least. The Yankees, say what you will, boast arguably the deepest and most impressive roster of talent in the history of the sport. Once you start knocking on the door of their inner circle, you've entered some exclusive conversations.
Judge, of course, is far from done. He'll turn 34 in April — he got a relatively late start to his career, winning AL Rookie of the Year honors during his age-25 season — and while the durability questions for someone his size will only get louder as he enters his mid-30s, he shows no signs of slowing down as a hitter. With good health, he figures to have at least a couple more MVP-caliber seasons in him.
But this all begs the question: Forget about what the record books say; where does Judge actually rank among the greatest players in Yankees history? And where will he rank once his career is said and done? It's a thorny question, as you might expect for one of the most polarizing superstars in the history of the sport.
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Where does Aaron Judge rank among the greatest Yankees ever, and how high could he climb?
On paper, the case for Judge as one of the greatest Yankees ever — even if he retired tomorrow — is pretty clear-cut. He's been one of the best right-handed hitters in the sport since breaking in back in 2017, but over the last few years he's ascended to one of the best right-handed hitters ever. He's doing stuff the game hasn't seen since Barry Bonds, and he's obviously doing it in a far different scoring environment.
New York's Mount Rushmore is likely an argument between five players: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Derek Jeter. Judge has at least given himself a chance to make a run at that group: He just passed Yogi Berra on the career bWAR list, and he's gaining on Jeter.
Name | Career bWAR |
|---|---|
Babe Ruth | 142.8 |
Lou Gehrig | 113.7 |
Mickey Mantle | 110.3 |
Joe DiMaggio | 79.1 |
Derek Jeter | 71.3 |
Aaron Judge | 60.5 |
Yogi Berra | 59.7 |
Bill Dickey | 56.4 |
Willie Randolph | 54.1 |
Alex Rodriguez | 53.8 |
Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle are probably out of reach, but when you consider that Judge has averaged 8.5 WAR per year (and counting) from 2022-2025, it seems more than likely that he'll pass DiMaggio before he hangs up his spikes. And who knows: If he's somehow able to defy Father Time and keep this peak going for three or four more years, maybe even Gehrig and Mantle aren't unreasonable targets.
Of course, you don't need me to tell you that Aaron Judge is a great baseball player. And these sorts of debates aren't confined to a spreadsheet. When we talk about legacy, we're talking about vibes as much as anything else — and no matter what the numbers say, you won't find any Yankees fan who would, right now, put Judge ahead of Jeter on the franchise's all-time pecking order. And that's not going to change unless Judge himself changes it in October.
Judge is a captain, one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball history. He's also one of only six Yankees to win multiple MVPs in New York, and if he wins a third this season, he'll move into a tie with Mantle, DiMaggio and Berra for the most in franchise history. He's cleared all but the true, inner-circle legends, the guys still spoken of in hushed tones.
But in the end, that's where he'll remain unless he can reach the only number that really matters: one World Series ring. The truth of the matter is that there's a hard ceiling on your place in Yankees lore unless you add a championship to the trophy case; not only has Judge not been able to do that yet, but for the most part he's actively been a detriment to the team's October pursuits. At this point, that just is what it is — even as an ardent Judge defender, someone who thinks that his high-profile failures have caused him to be underrated at points in the national discourse, it's impossible to deny that he hasn't done enough in the biggest moments.
All it takes is one run. If Judge is able to catch fire in this postseason and lead the Yankees to a title, then suddenly a whole lot more people will be ready and willing to recognize the statistical reality of his greatness. He won't pass Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle, and there will always be a portion of the fan base that worships Jeter for his five titles, but even one World Series run can vault Judge past DiMaggio and into real Mount Rushmore conversations.