Aaron Judge’s new contract with the Yankees may have come with an additional bonus.
Now that Judge is tied to the franchise for the next nine years, there is growing speculation that he’ll be named the 16th captain in Yankees history. Judge’s teammates have repeatedly endorsed his leadership abilities in recent years, and the consensus around baseball is that the Yankees appear poised to formalize that leadership position.
Captains are an oddity in baseball. While NHL and NFL captains have formal duties (like conferring with on-ice officials and calling the coin toss) in addition to wearing the big C on their jerseys, no MLB team has had an official captain since David Wright and Adrian Beltré retired after the 2018 season. It might have made sense for someone like Joey Votto or Yadier Molina to be named captain by their team, but most clubs don’t bother officially sanctioning a guy’s role as a team leader. The guys in the clubhouse don’t need to be told who to respect.
