New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s take a look at some of the latest MLB news and notes coming out of spring training and the World Baseball Classic, including Aaron Judge’s motivation with the New York Yankees and a Boston Red Sox prospect setting a lofty goal.
We start today’s column with the reigning American League MVP, coming off a season where he set an AL record for home runs with 62. Judge had a phenomenal 2022 campaign on almost every level, but Yankees fans don’t have to worry about the 30-year-old superstar resting on his laurels now that he has his mega contract in place.
MLB news: Aaron Judge has plenty of motivation for Yankees in 2023
Jon Heyman of The New York Post recently asked Judge about his goals for 2023, and what was left to accomplish personally outside of last season’s MVP campaign. While Judge wouldn’t divulge what his goals were for 2023, he did tell Heyman that, “I missed a couple marks,” and that he sets goals every year.
“I got ’em in my notes,” he told Heyman.
Even without Judge tipping his hand on those goals, one of them would seem to be the Yankees getting back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
While Judge absolutely can put together another monster season in 2023, it will take more than him to make that goal happen in the Bronx. Will the young players come through? Will players such as Josh Donaldson rebound from down seasons? Did the Yankees do enough in the offseason to help Judge (a question we tackled here)? These are all important questions.
However, it certainly seems that Judge is locked in and focused on what he needs to do to help the Yankees … even if he won’t tell exactly what that focus is for 2023.