Could AL MVP Aaron Judge become Yankees’ next captain? originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The king of the concrete jungle is here.
The New York Yankees have re-signed outfielder Aaron Judge to a nine-year, $360 million deal after he declined offers from other teams. The 30-year-old star capped off his historic 2022 season with the coveted AL MVP award and now he looks to become the 16th captain in the franchise's history.
Judge’s Yankees tenure since debuting in 2016 has been filled with legendary moments: a home run in his first career at-bat, slugging 54 homers as an official rookie the following year and passing Roger Maris for the AL single-season record with 62 home runs in 2022. Now, he looks to join names such as Don Mattingly, Thurman Munson, Lou Gehrig and Derek Jeter as a Yankees captain.
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Jon Heyman of the New York Post says that Judge’s captain title is “very likely” and Bob Nightengale of USA Today is certain that “Judge will be wearing a C on his chest” next season, but the honor isn’t easy to come by. The Yankees have not had a captain since Jeter retired in 2014 and he was not even named captain until 2003, which was after winning four World Series titles and playing seven full MLB seasons.
Social media seems to believe already that Judge will be the franchise's next official leader:
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Now, it’s up to the Yankees to make it official.
