Aaron Judge sent a clear message to the New York Yankees after their loss in the American League Division Series.
The Yankees saw their championship drought extended to 17 seasons by losing to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 at Yankee Stadium in New York, N.Y. on Wednesday. Judge did not play in the series due to injury, but sent a clear message to the organization about what their ambitions should be going forward.
“We’re the Yankees,” Judge said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do and find. If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you’ve got to go out there and get it.”
Judge was hesitant when asked if he felt the Yankees had gone all-in up to this point.
“It’s tough to say,” Judge added. “I want to trade for everybody, sign everybody every single year, but I know that’s not realistic. So they give us a winning team every single year, but that’s not good enough here in New York. We’re the Yankees. You’ve got to go out there and chase championships and go all in every year.”
The Yankees undoubtedly would have had a better chance of winning a title if Judge had been available. A late-season calf strain derailed his postseason after a rib injury caused him to miss the majority of the regular year. He made a serious effort to play in the playoffs, but it never came to pass.
Judge still contributed 18 home runs in 66 games for the Yankees, but his .241 batting average was a career-worst mark.
