NEW YORK — Every so often this spring, someone tries to offer Aaron Judge a way out. “It’s going to be hard to top last season,” they say, or “You’ll never hit 62 home runs again, but—” That is usually as far as they get before he stops them.
“We’ll see,” he replies. He is frequently smiling. He is never joking.
He broke the American League single-season home run record last year. He came within five points of batting average of the Triple Crown. He won the MVP award. He almost singlehandedly muscled the Yankees through a monthlong summer swoon. He did it all while fans booed him for turning down an extension offer that would have paid him nearly $150 million less than the $360 million over nine years he ultimately commanded. He spent November and part of December flirting with his hometown Giants before returning to New York on the largest contract in franchise history. The team named him captain the minute he agreed to his new deal.
