Aaron Judge will receive a special gift from the city of New York upon re-signing with the Yankees for the 2023 baseball season.
Aaron Judge is back to being the biggest sports star in New York, as he re-signed with the Yankees in December to a lucrative contract and restarted the discussion of the Yanks as a World Series contender.
In light of the news about his return, the Yankees and the city of New York are treating No. 99 like royalty entering the 2023 MLB season, and rightfully so.
According to Yankees insider Bryan Hoch, Judge will receive a key to the city for his contributions on the diamond and his role in starting the “All Rise” foundation in 2018.
“Aaron Judge will soon receive a key to the City of New York, @NYCMayor told @1010WINS’ @winsjuliet,” Hoch wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.
Judge has been an intricate part of the Yankees and their rebuild into one of baseball’s best teams. Since 2016, Judge has accumulated 472 home runs (not including playoffs), and has led his squad to six-straight playoff appearances, totaling 23 RBIs and 38 games in that span.
The Yankees came up short of a World Series title in 2022, as they lost to the Houston Astros in a four-game ALCS sweep, falling 6-5 in the series’ final game at Yankee Stadium.
In Judge’s four plate appearances, he failed to secure the game-changing hit that, in all likelihood, would have extended the series.
The Yankees will look to contend for an AL East title
Once again, the Yankees are one of the likely favorites to win the AL East, as they return Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Gleybar Torres, to name a few. They finished 99-63, good enough to clinch the AL East in late-September and beat out the Toronto Blue Jays by seven games.
Spring training begins in mid-Feb., as the Yankees are on a quest for postseason redemption.