Aaron Judge’s Yankees contract already not aging well, host says | ‘Something is up’
Are the New York Yankees paying Aaron Judge $40 million a year to hit .197? Absolutely not, but it’s only May 3 and there are still 129 games remaining for Judge to recapture his elite form.
That hasn’t stopped some Yankees fans (and local hosts) from expressing angst about what this could mean for the rest of Judge’s Yankees career.
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“I don’t like being right about Judge … what I said (in spring training) was we’re never going to see the dominant Aaron Judge from 2022 again,” WFAN host Keith McPherson said Thursday night.
In 149 plate appearances (33 games) of the 2024 season, Judge has six home runs and 18 RBI — perfectly acceptable power numbers for most anyone not named Judge. He has walked 16.1% (less than last year) and struck out 26.8% (less than last year) of the time, though he’s slashing .197/.331/.393 — with an OPS+ of 108. He’s gone hitless in his past three games (nine games).
“But now that he has the $40 million-a-year contract, before he got the captaincy, that was before he ran into the wall at Dodger Stadium. It’s unfortunate for us as Yankee fans,” McPherson said. “It just seems like you sign a Jacoby Ellsbury, he’s hurt, he’s MIA. Not a good signing. You sign Aaron Hicks, he falls off a cliff … even Giancarlo Stanton. He’s not completely washed, but think about what we thought we were getting.”
Judge signed his nine-year, $360 million contract in December 2022, which became the third-largest deal in baseball history. Judge was productive in its first season (.267 average, 175 OPS+ with 37 home runs and 75 RBI) but he played in only 106 games because of a torn ligament in his toe suffered when he crashed into the Dodger Stadium wall. In spring training, Judge, 32, dealt with abdominal soreness that sidelined him.
“It just looks like it’s not gonna be a good contract, and I’m worried about the guy,” McPherson said. “I love Judge just as much as any Yankee fan. … I know what the guy is, though, but right now, it’s what he isn’t … his timing, his eye, the strikeouts, something is up.”
A glance at Judge’s Baseball Savant page shows a hitter with elite max exit velocity and hard-hit rate, though his barrel rate is 13.3% compared to his career average of 21.4% (last season he had 27.5% mark). He is swinging through a lot of pitches (10th percentile), though he is not chasing much. His expected batting average is .240, which would be the lowest mark since his rookie year when he played 27 games.
McPherson believes that Judge is still banged up and Judge and the Yankees are not being forthcoming about his health.
“Maybe it’s the toe injury and he’s feeling that in his leg, his oblique, his abdominal — the guy has not been the same,” McPherson said. “I’m not hating on Judge, but I’m concerned about Judge.”
