Aaron Judge was not in the starting lineup for the Yankees’ season finale against the Royals on Sunday afternoon, but he did speak with reporters about what’s head for the captain and the organization in a crucial offseason that will be a lot longer than expected.
Last week, Judge told reporters that a lot needed to be “fixed” around the Yankees, and he will speak with the Yankee brass “soon,” to talk about what went wrong in 2023 and what needs to change in 2024.
“I’ve talked mostly with Hal [Steinbrenner], more than [Brian Cashman],” Judge said, via Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record. “I’m looking forward to having some meetings with Hal and Cash, both in the room, and kind of all of us voicing our opinion.
“I'm excited to build off of what we got here. And if we can add a couple more pieces down the road this winter, then we'll be in a good spot.”
In terms of what the Yankees already have, Judge said he would like to see more “urgency” from the players.
“Just because you get to the big leagues and you get to New York, you’ve still got to improve,” Judge said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “You’ve still got to make adjustments. That’s what I think these extra four weeks will help guys figure out, and get them on the right path.”
Judge said last week that he would keep it “in house” in terms of what he wants to see change around the organization, but with many fans criticizing the team’s reliance on analytics in recent years, Judge said it is more about the implementation rather than putting analytics under one umbrella.
“On the analytics side, I think the information and the resources the Yankees provide are great,” Judge said, via Hoch. “I think…how we use them and how we value them is an aspect that we just maybe need to look at again. The Yankees are top-notch in the numbers we get. I think we’re the best in the game at that. I think it’s about funneling those down to the players in the right format.
“I wouldn’t say [we are] overloaded. I think it’s just looking at the right numbers. I think maybe we might be looking at the wrong ones. We need to value some other ones that people might see as having no value.”