NEW YORK — Aaron Judge has reached a verdict.
The Yankees captain told the New York Daily News that he is not considering taking legal action against the Los Angeles Dodgers after he tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 3 while making a spectacular catch at Dodger Stadium. Judge crashed through the chain-link bullpen fence in right field on the play and smashed his toe against an exposed concrete step that divides the bullpen and the field.
“Nah, no need,” Judge said when asked about a potential lawsuit.
The News asked Judge about this because former Yankee Dustin Fowler sued the Chicago White Sox and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, among other parties, after he collided with a concealed electrical box at what was then called U.S. Cellular Field on June 29, 2017.
Fowler made his major league debut that day, but he hit his knee on the box’s sharp edge while chasing a foul fly ball during the first inning. Fowler had to be carted off and underwent season-ending surgery for a ruptured right patellar tendon.
The Yankees included him in the Sonny Gray trade with Oakland the following month.
Fowler, who has played in 87 major league games for the Athletics and Pirates since his injury, did not get his case resolved until roughly 15 months ago, according to his lawyer, Michael Sorich. Sorich told The News that Fowler settled, but he could not disclose the amount.
“What we needed to prove was that there was a defect that the defendants in our case knew about and failed to take reasonable steps to remedy,” Sorich said.
Sorich said the pandemic delayed Fowler’s case, but so did standard motions to dismiss and adding defendants to the suit.
While Fowler has never signed a lucrative deal, Judge has less to gain from a lengthy legal battle after inking a nine-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees over the offseason. However, he recently said that he expects his injury to leave lingering effects, and that pain tolerance will be something he has to deal with whenever he returns.
“It’s feeling good walking,” Judge said, adding that he still feels the aftermath from dislocating his pinky in 2021. “It doesn’t feel great. I don’t think I’ll ever be normal, but I’m moving around pretty well right now.”
“Any injury, it takes a year, two years, three years.”
Still, suing the Dodgers doesn’t sound like it’s in the cards.
To Los Angeles’ credit, team president Stan Kasten said the Dodgers planned on reinforcing the bullpen fence and padding the concrete slab at Dodger Stadium, according to an article from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that published on June 6, a few days after Judge got hurt.
A Dodgers spokesperson told The News that the alterations have been made, but Sorich believes Judge has a case if he were to change his mind.
“Could [the Dodgers] have taken precautions to remedy that or protect players that maybe would be in that vicinity? Sure,” Sorich said. “I mean, that would certainly be the argument I would make if I was Aaron Judge’s lawyer.”
