After years of wait, the New York Yankees are finally playing like the best team in MLB. At .723, the Bronx Bombers have the best record not only in AL but in the entire league. They owe much of that to Aaron Judge.
The outfielder got off to a hot start to the season and is currently the home run leader in the 2022 season with 30 long balls. Judge's contract is up at the end of the year, but the team is expected to make a massive offer to keep him for the years to come.
After all, he has given the front office enough reasons to do so. His contribution is key for the organization both on and off the field, something that reminds Alex Rodriguez of Derek Jeter's days.
Alex Rodriguez says Aaron Judge is the first since Derek Jeter to contribute so much to the Yankees organization
"Yes, the business will go on and the Yankees will always be the Yankees, but I don't think they'll find a player, since Derek Jeter, that connects to that fan base as much as Aaron Judge and more importantly, feeds the YES Network the star power that they so much need," Rodriguez said in an appearance on The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, via Max Goodman of Sports Illustrated.
"The Yankee Judge situation is as compelling of a drama as you can write up," Rodriguez added. "On one end, you have a supreme athlete who is a world-class kid, New York proven, Madison Avenue friendly who rolled the dice and bet on himself. I love that he has that type of confidence. It also seems that his poise and maturity is at an apex.
"He really is answering every question perfectly, he's playing at a higher level than any other player in the big leagues and I think he is the most valuable player, not only on the field, but as a marketing tool for an empire like the New York Yankees."
Though Judge still has a long way to go before he can be compared to Jeter, A-Rod has a fair point. Right now, Judge plays a pivotal role for the Yankees organization in ways Jeter did back in the day. The most important thing, however, will be whether he ends up leading the team to its first World Series title since 2009 this year.
