Major League Baseball is adding a $1 million prize to try to entice players to participate in the Home Run Derby, but the early returns aren’t as encouraging as they may have liked.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, a Home Run Derby winner in 2017, said the cash prize doesn’t change the fact that he has no interest in participating again and risking injury.
Aaron Judge said the new $1M prize does not change his opinion about participating in a second Home Run Derby.
"The money doesn't matter. For me, I did it once. I had a blast with it. But I'm more worried about winning games. I don't want to get hurt again doing a Derby."
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 15, 2019
This is the problem MLB often runs into with the Home Run Derby. Stars simply don’t see it as fun. More marginal players may be enticed by the potential prize money, but the league’s best veteran players who are already making millions of dollars a year probably won’t change their mind about participating anytime soon.
