The New York Yankees on Wednesday named Aaron Judge the 16th captain of the franchise as the team held a press conference to finalize the slugging outfielder’s new nine-year contract.
Judge received the captainship eight years after Derek Jeter retired. The Hall of Famer was named captain in June 2003 – eight years after Don Mattingly retired. Other Yankees captains include Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Thurman Munson, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Roger Peckinpaugh, Rollie Zeider, Frank Chance, Hal Chase, Willie Keeler, Kid Elberfeld and Clark Griffith.
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According to The Athletic, the Yankees and Judge agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal.
He was originally thought to have signed with the San Francisco Giants last week. However, the apparent deal did not come to fruition. The home-run-hitting outfielder is now set to be a Yankees player for the bulk of his career and likely the remainder of it.
YANKEES OWNER HAL STEINBRENNER MET POPE FRANCIS BEFORE AARON JUDGE SIGNING
Before Judge was officially named captain, he was spotted out and about with his dog, Penny. Judge was wearing a long jacket trying to brave the cold weather that has plagued the New York City area in the middle of December.
A four-time All-Star in the Bronx, Judge blasted 220 homers and knocked in 497 RBI with a .284/.394/.583 slash line and .977 OPS in 729 Yankees games over the past seven seasons.
He was named the 2022 American League MVP after breaking Roger Maris’ single-season AL home-run record with 62 and was in the Triple Crown conversation until the end of the season.
Judge led the majors in homers, RBI (131), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686), runs (133) and total bases (391), while his 111 walks topped the AL leaderboard. His .311 batting average was the second-best in the AL and just five points behind the Minnesota Twins' Luis Arraez.
