Yankees’ Aaron Judge Becoming a Villain for No Reason

The discourse around Aaron Judge's legacy shouldn't be defined by what happens in big games, whether it's for the New York Yankees or Team USA. For the longest time, Alex Rodrguez and Barry Bonds both performed poorly in the postseason before their respective World Series runs. Rodriguez ended up sealing the deal in 2009, and, while Bonds didn't, the Giants' loss to the Angels certainly wasn't his fault.

Both Rodriguez and Bonds were all-time players, and in those years when they struggled, it would be lazy to knock their legacies as a whole. That discourse never hit Bonds, thankfully, but what happened to Rodriguez before 2009 is what's happening with Judge right now.

San Francisco Giants Outfielder Barry Bonds — Barry Bonds hits home run number 756 off Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik breaking Hank Aaron's all-time career home run record of 755 on Aug. 7, 2007. | Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Where would the Yankees even be if Judge had never found that God mode gear in his initial MVP campaign in 2022? Judge has a 37.3 WAR according to FanGraphs since that season, which is a tick below Harold Baines' 38.4 career WAR in 22 seasons.

During that span, Judge has three double-digit WAR seasons. The only reason he didn't hit that mark in 2023 was because of a wall at Dodger Stadium. Judge had WARs of 11.1 in 2022, 11.3 in 2024, and 10.1 in 2025. He likely would have eclipsed his career high in early September of 2024, were it not for a slow start that season.

When you have a player with multiple 11-WAR seasons in a short span, their greatness tends to cover up a lot of blemishes. Imagine a world where Judge didn't exist.

Without Judge

The brain trust of Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman, and Hal Steinbrenner would be at the helm of one of the darkest periods of the organization without their captain. Keep in mind, these are the people with such genius moves as trading for Josh Donaldson, watching Alex Verdugo get over 500 plate appearances in a season, or giving Anthony Volpe unlimited leeway despite having never really earned it.

In the case of Verdugo, it would have been so easy to replace him. Anybody in the minors could have played as poorly as he did, or, a trade for even a league average to slightly below league average bat would have been a huge improvement over Verdugo. The Yankees' front office simply refused, and, funny enough, he was the last out of that 2024 season. These are the types of people running the Yankees, and the shocking thing isn’t the World Series drought, but that they have gotten as far as they have since 2022.

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo (24) celebrates with first base coach Travis Chapman (75) after hitting a RBI single during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

In a universe without Judge, things would be different, of course, but one thing is clear. His ability to play at a level few have ever achieved without illegal enhancements has made up for many of the New York Yankees' front office's poor decisions. If Judge has 5 or 6 WAR seasons, which is still great, there's no way the Yankees even find themselves in the position to chase down a division or make it to the World Series.

Judge is a true outlier. Baseball is a sport where it has been proven time and time again that one person can't carry a 26-man roster. Judge, on the other hand, has done just that.

He can be surrounded by a cast of characters that features Giancarlo Stanton, who is perpetually on the IL, or one where multiple shortstops are prolific at having an inability to throw to first base. Still, he drags the Yankees across the finish line time and time again. They should be 80-win teams, but Judge alone brings them over 90 year in and year out.

We saw this in Team USA's run in the WBC, too. Judge's power and his defense were off the charts coming into that game with Venezuela. He was a staple of that team on both sides of the ball, and it would be disingenuous to discount that. One would think that he played as poorly as teammate Bryce Harper, who finally decided to grace the world with his presence in the 8th inning of the final game of the tournament.

There will be a time when Judge comes down to Earth, which, for him, is posting five and six-WAR seasons, and that will be when everybody will finally fully appreciate what he has done. That will especially be the case if the same people still run the Yankees front office.

Without Judge

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