Only God Can Judge Judge

Leather

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Not accusing Arraez of ducking, but is he injured? Judge hasn't helped himself with a .192 BA over his last 10 games, but I'd be really pissed if he does well today and tomorrow and barely misses the Triple Crown without Arraez putting up another AB. I hate that I'm rooting for a Yankee, but as Ale Xander's list shows, there are a few that are nearly impossible to hate - Rivera, Bernie, and Judge would certainly make that list of recent players.
Yes. He’s had a hamstring issue.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/arraez-says-he-s-hurt-not-sitting-out-to-keep-judge-from-batting-title/ar-AA12A7k8
 

Murderer's Crow

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It's been noted in game that Judge looks like he's pressing. The combination of him pressing a little and the fact that nobody really throws him anything he can hit suddenly makes it easy to see that he might not get to 62 or get enough hits for the triple. We'll see. I'm not optimistic.
 

Average Reds

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It's been noted in game that Judge looks like he's pressing. The combination of him pressing a little and the fact that nobody really throws him anything he can hit suddenly makes it easy to see that he might not get to 62 or get enough hits for the triple. We'll see. I'm not optimistic.
I know that pitchers are being careful, but this isn’t like Bonds stuck on 69 home runs being pitched around every at bat for three consecutive games times (7 intentional walks) before the Houston Manager (Dierker) finally relented and let a rookie go after him. (Bonds missed one strike and hit the second one into orbit.)

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/astros/article/Minute-Maid-Park-s-most-memorable-Barry-Bonds-14183563.php

I get that fans want Judge to hit number 62, but the pitchers challenged him last night and he couldn’t touch them.
 

jon abbey

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Ok, that makes me feel better.

Hope Judge goes 4-5 in each game today.
I realized last night that everyone takes OBP more seriously than BA these days, and Judge is leading all of MLB by 20+ points there. He’s probably not going to catch Arraez in BA but OBP/HR/RBI is pretty cool too.
 

Mr. Stinky Esq.

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I realized last night that everyone takes OBP more seriously than BA these days, and Judge is leading all of MLB by 20+ points there. He’s probably not going to catch Arraez in BA but OBP/HR/RBI is pretty cool too.
Other than the historical significance of the triple crown, I'm with you. Judge leads the league in almost every meaningful offensive category (OBP, SLG, OPS (duh), TB, HR, RBI, Runs, Walks, XBH, oWAR, WPA, etc.). Aside from BA, he only really lags in hits, SBs, 2Bs (the homers have to, to some extent, come at the expense of results like 2Bs on well-struck balls), 3Bs... it's an incredible season and not having the batting title detracts nothing from his accomplishments in my meaningless opinion.
 

Leather

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Batting Title is basically the wins leader for batters. Like...yeah, it's a cool stat and it's usually an indicator you had a good year, but the significance is based more in historical inertia than anything else.

That said, Arraez is a good player (128 OPS+, 4.1 WAR) whose average this year is essentially his career average, so it wouldn't be a fluke if he won.
 

jon abbey

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Other than the historical significance of the triple crown, I'm with you. Judge leads the league in almost every meaningful offensive category (OBP, SLG, OPS (duh), TB, HR, RBI, Runs, Walks, XBH, oWAR, WPA, etc.). Aside from BA, he only really lags in hits, SBs, 2Bs (the homers have to, to some extent, come at the expense of results like 2Bs on well-struck balls), 3Bs... it's an incredible season and not having the batting title detracts nothing from his accomplishments in my meaningless opinion.
The AL runs scored leaderboard is crazy, Judge leading with 131 and Altuve next at just 102. Judge has 21 more ABs than Arraez (563 to 542) and has scored 45 more runs (131 to 86).
 

Sin Duda

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And he's got it, # 62! Congrats to Aaron Judge and all Yankees fans. That it quite an accomplishment and one I personally consider the greatest HR hitting season of all time!
 

jon abbey

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The Triple Crown dream seems 99.9 percent dead, Arraez is four points up with one game left and Boone just said Judge will sit tomorrow.

So even if Arraez starts, they can pull him if he starts 0-2, which would leave him at .3138. If he gets a hit before getting to 0-2, they can leave him in. This is obviously important to MIN/Arraez as they have been sitting him this past week against LHP (.268 against them) and playing him against some RHP (.328), so I think they will play defense here, maybe Arraez won't even start but he does have a cushion. Even if Judge subs in mid-game (they do have five days off after that) and goes 2 for 2, he would still be at .3129.
 

BigSoxFan

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62 homers. AL MVP soon to follow. Disastrous postseason. Will be interesting to follow his contract status this offseason. Probably coming back to the Yankees but we’ll see if anyone else gets frisky.
 

Mystic Merlin

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62 homers. AL MVP soon to follow. Disastrous postseason. Will be interesting to follow his contract status this offseason. Probably coming back to the Yankees but we’ll see if anyone else gets frisky.
Lot of noise the last month or so that the Giants would throw a massive bag of money at him. He’s from central CA and even went to college in Fresno.
 

Apisith

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Does he? It sounds like he wants to see his market value and let the Yankees match. I don’t hear games from Judge, he’s always been honest IMO.
 

bosockboy

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Honestly it’s a lose lose for them. If he’s gone, you lose a ton of production. If he stays, he’s peaked and his numbers can only go down at double the money. I’d rather he just stay.
 

brandonchristensen

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Honestly it’s a lose lose for them. If he’s gone, you lose a ton of production. If he stays, he’s peaked and his numbers can only go down at double the money. I’d rather he just stay.
Stay and eat tons of payroll, or vanish into SF. Either is fine with me.
 

Murderer's Crow

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Stay and eat tons of payroll, or vanish into SF. Either is fine with me.
I'm fine with Judge going. That's not a hot take, it's just that he's the wrong age for a mega contract. He wants to be paid like the basically perfect player he is for 8 or 9 more years and I just can't see why or how we need to do that.

After the last 6 full seasons, it's obvious that we aren't spreading our offense around enough. It's focused on 1-2 players and 2-3 other guys who we hope get hot or run into a pitch. It is a broken offense for the postseason when your 725 ops guys who look okay at times during the regular season but generally aren't contributing much absolutely fall apart when they are facing the best pitching in baseball every time up.
 

brandonchristensen

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I'm fine with Judge going. That's not a hot take, it's just that he's the wrong age for a mega contract. He wants to be paid like the basically perfect player he is for 8 or 9 more years and I just can't see why or how we need to do that.

After the last 6 full seasons, it's obvious that we aren't spreading our offense around enough. It's focused on 1-2 players and 2-3 other guys who we hope get hot or run into a pitch. It is a broken offense for the postseason when your 725 ops guys who look okay at times during the regular season but generally aren't contributing much absolutely fall apart when they are facing the best pitching in baseball every time up.
While I do love this thread because of the history inside of it - is there a reason that he came up so old? Just a late bloomer I assume?
 

E5 Yaz

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I'm fine with Judge going. That's not a hot take, it's just that he's the wrong age for a mega contract. He wants to be paid like the basically perfect player he is for 8 or 9 more years and I just can't see why or how we need to do that..
This doesn't apply to you, but do you think the percentage of Yankee fans who would be okay with Judge moving on increased with his quiet postseason? I can imagine that if the Yankees lost in the ALCS, but Judge had been the one hitter carrying the load, it might be tougher to be okay with him leaving.
 

Murderer's Crow

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This doesn't apply to you, but do you think the percentage of Yankee fans who would be okay with Judge moving on increased with his quiet postseason? I can imagine that if the Yankees lost in the ALCS, but Judge had been the one hitter carrying the load, it might be tougher to be okay with him leaving.
Depends on the temperature in the room. Right now Yankee fans are upset with everyone from Cashman to Boone to Judge. Everyone I know who isn't on SoSH is ready to light the whole damn team on fire for their ALCS performance (minus the pitching).

My guess is that in a month when it settles and free agency starts for real, they will start to see that the options for not retaining Judge aren't all that great and since most fans are dumb as rocks they don't see any other super stars out there to replace him and they start shifting their energy to Hal, who the entire fan base thinks is super cheap and has no sense of urgency.

If they don't sign him and do a bunch of other splashy stuff, it'll be fine. If they don't sign him and add an average bat, it'll look bad and fans will be upset.

I'd call the Judge situation for Cashman "Damned if you don't, Damned later if you do."
 
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santadevil

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This seems like one of those times where the player shouldn't move on
Massive popularity, in the largest market. That takes time to build up. You move on and kind of fall off the radar a bit

The grass isn't always greener, etc.

However, it's also his prerogative to go where he wants
But it's not something that comes up often, so take advantage. Become the legend
 

Leather

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This seems like one of those times where the player shouldn't move on
Massive popularity, in the largest market. That takes time to build up. You move on and kind of fall off the radar a bit

The grass isn't always greener, etc.

However, it's also his prerogative to go where he wants
But it's not something that comes up often, so take advantage. Become the legend
I don't think "largest market" / "rabid fanbase" is always as appealing as we, as fans, might make it out to be. I think, after having experienced the ups and downs of being a Yankee, a player like Judge (or Mookie...) might say "You know this shit is great in my 20s but I don't want to be here as the "face of the franchize" as I'm raising a family, dealing with age-related injuries and decline. As long as the money is comparable I'm good with dialing the insanity down." It's not like San Fran is a perennial loser; it's a big market and has shown it will spend to compete.
 

jon abbey

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Honestly it’s a lose lose for them. If he’s gone, you lose a ton of production. If he stays, he’s peaked and his numbers can only go down at double the money. I’d rather he just stay.
Sorry, is this about Xander? :)

Honestly the above applies to almost every premium FA, their team is generally screwed short-term if they leave and long-term if they come back.
 

jon abbey

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If Judge leaves, I am locking this thread that I started the day after he was drafted in 2013 and of course my avatar that I have had since his first MLB game in 2016. Judge is almost certainly my favorite Yankee ever, even before this absurd season, he is a mythic figure come to life, Paul Bunyan in RF.

But I got over NY losing Rickey Henderson at 29 back in the day, guys who get to FA sometimes leave and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about (they could have treated him better along the way certainly). I’m already kind of excited for the Jasson Dominguez/Spencer Jones middle of the order, maybe 2024 or 2025.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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Do we know whether Judge gave NY the chance to match a Giants’ offer? Because that deal was rumored yesterday to be made by SF, wasn’t it?
 

jon abbey

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Do we know whether Judge gave NY the chance to match a Giants’ offer? Because that deal was rumored yesterday to be made by SF, wasn’t it?
I'm sure we will get in-depth stories soon, but the rumor on what happened yesterday was that Judge asked both teams to make their best final offers and he would decide. It always made way more sense for him to stay in NY if everything was relatively even offer-wise (legacy already started there, much better current team around him and probably better prospect pipeline, much better HR park), so I was pretty surprised about the SF choice reports.
 

terrynever

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Paywall, but a great roundup of testimonials about how incredible a teammate Judge has always been, an unofficial captain years before he was officially named.

https://theathletic.com/4232617/2023/03/29/yankees-captain-aaron-judge
Wonderful story. Getting players to talk about someone else is a great interviewing technique.

It’s almost embarrassing to say but this team has me excited about baseball for the first time in five years. Life sometimes gets in the way of enjoying things we love. But this team — and the new rules — make me eager to see baseball again. I even bought a 65-inch TV!
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Not a mention here of his injury??? It’s a hip injury which can often be a recurring and nagging injury and one that saps power. Would appreciate any MFY fans thoughts
 

jon abbey

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Not a mention here of his injury??? It’s a hip injury which can often be a recurring and nagging injury and one that saps power. Would appreciate any MFY fans thoughts
Thoughts like what? Nothing’s really been reported, rumors that it’s serious and rumors that it’s mild are going around. Either way, sounds like he will sit out a few days and not go on the IL yet. My main thought is ‘Go Knicks!’.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Thoughts like what? Nothing’s really been reported, rumors that it’s serious and rumors that it’s mild are going around. Either way, sounds like he will sit out a few days and not go on the IL yet. My main thought is ‘Go Knicks!’.
Dunno. Your hopes. Your dreams?
Wasn’t sure if there was any information you knew that wasn’t around here… as mentioned nothing ws posted at all
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Looks like Judge will be back on Tuesday. I said several times over the offseason that his career was quickly going to fall apart due to nagging injuries.... I don't wish it on him as I really like the guy but prior to last season he was consistently battling injuries and I don't see a guy of his build being able to handle the outfield. I'm sure he'll start seeing some more time at DH and wondering if they'll start having him playing 1st at all (of course if it's hip and leg related injuries, those stretches to catch throws across the diamond probably won't extend his career). The MFY's have so much young talent though, carrying a declining Judge over the next 5+ years may not hurt the team much, in neither run production nor the wallet.
 

jon abbey

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Looks like Judge will be back on Tuesday. I said several times over the offseason that his career was quickly going to fall apart due to nagging injuries.... I don't wish it on him as I really like the guy but prior to last season he was consistently battling injuries and I don't see a guy of his build being able to handle the outfield. I'm sure he'll start seeing some more time at DH and wondering if they'll start having him playing 1st at all (of course if it's hip and leg related injuries, those stretches to catch throws across the diamond probably won't extend his career). The MFY's have so much young talent though, carrying a declining Judge over the next 5+ years may not hurt the team much, in neither run production nor the wallet.
Man, this is a jump. He missed 10 days and could have played after 4 or 5 but they were being careful. With Bader back, he can go back to mostly playing RF instead of CF, so that should help.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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. The MFY's have so much young talent though, carrying a declining Judge over the next 5+ years may not hurt the team much, in neither run production nor the wallet.
5+, sure, but he’s got 8+ years left on the new deal. And like J.A. said, this is a pretty snap judgement based on (checks notes) your comments in the off-season and a brief time out of the lineup.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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5+, sure, but he’s got 8+ years left on the new deal. And like J.A. said, this is a pretty snap judgement based on (checks notes) your comments in the off-season and a brief time out of the lineup.
Well he's had plenty of injuries throughout his career already and missed time every season other than '22. His age and history to me suggest he won't hold up long term at an OF position. I don't think that's a snap judgement.
The 5+ years comment was referring to the cluster of young players that Yankees still will control- after that they'll either be getting expensive or will be traded in for likely more expensive FA's so the window to not be seriously damaged by that massive contract is 5-ish years, no?
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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The Judge thread turning into the "SLT wishful thinking thread" is mildly amusing.
I really don't wish it on him.... but wasn't his age and injury history something to be more than concerned over? My position when several SoSH posters wanted the Sox to break the bank to sign Judge was that he was likely going to be a liability. I'm sticking with that. But the way the Yankees future looks.... they'll be able to grow around any possibility that Judge collapses without it hampering them the way I think it would have if the Sox did it (I doubt they sign Devers and while Judge is the superior player, I doubt in 1 year and further that will be the case)
 

terrynever

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I really don't wish it on him.... but wasn't his age and injury history something to be more than concerned over? My position when several SoSH posters wanted the Sox to break the bank to sign Judge was that he was likely going to be a liability. I'm sticking with that. But the way the Yankees future looks.... they'll be able to grow around any possibility that Judge collapses without it hampering them the way I think it would have if the Sox did it (I doubt they sign Devers and while Judge is the superior player, I doubt in 1 year and further that will be the case)
Is there an athlete today who isn’t one wrong step from injury?