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Boston Red Sox

Aaron Judge discusses Red Sox as potential landing spot in free agency

Alex Barth September 14th

  • Most of the talk about the Red Sox and this upcoming offseason has centered around players leaving the ballclub. Xander Bogaerts is expected to opt out of his current deal and test the open market, while Rafael Devers is entering his final year of team control through arbitration and could be a trade candidate.

    But what about the other side of things? Could the Red Sox be in the market to add a superstar? If so, how big would they swing?

    Nobody has a bigger swing right now than Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge. Judge is chasing the single-season home run record with 57 dingers through 138 games this season, and is also in the Triple Crown race batting .310. The 30-year-old is doing everything he can to increase his value, with his contract expiring at the end of the offseason.

  • If Judge does hit the market, only a handful of teams will realistically be able to afford him based on his production this season. Traditionally, the Red Sox would be one of those teams as one of the true big market teams in Major League Baseball.

    With Judge and the Yankees in town Tuesday night (he hit two home runs in that game), the likely AL MVP was asked if he’d even consider switching sides in baseball’s biggest rivalry.

    “Oooh,” Judge said initially before pulling back, according to Matt Vautour of MassLive. “We’ll talk about that at the end of the year.”

    Well, that’s not a no…

    Even if Judge does want to come to Boston, it won’t be that simple. Red Sox ownership will have to be willing to invest the necessary capital to make that happen. That would potentially be on top of paying at least Devers, if not Bogaerts as well. It would be pretty surprising if the Red Sox – who have traditionally favored youth – elected to pay the 30-year-old Judge instead of the 25-year-old Devers.

    Still, Judge has said he’s enjoyed his times playing in Boston, even as a visitor. “This is one of the best places to play. It’s always fun to go out there and try to put on a show,” he told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “[The fans] are some of the best in baseball. They’re going to boo you and say some things. They’re going to make you laugh. It’s all part of it. They have a lot of great history here.”

    The Red Sox enter Wednesday 69-73, and seem on track to finish this season under .500. There’s no doubt they need to make some big moves this offseason. But Aaron Judge big? We’ll see ‘at the end of the year.’

  • Aaron Judge career stats

     
    Year Age Tm G AB R H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG Awards
    2016 24 NYY 27 84 10 15 4 10 9 42 .179 .263 .345
    2017 25 NYY 155 542 128 154 52 114 127 208 .284 .422 .627 AS,MVP-2,RoY-1,SS
    2018 26 NYY 112 413 77 115 27 67 76 152 .278 .392 .528 AS,MVP-12
    2019 27 NYY 102 378 75 103 27 55 64 141 .272 .381 .540
    2020 28 NYY 28 101 23 26 9 22 10 32 .257 .336 .554
    2021 29 NYY 148 550 89 158 39 98 75 158 .287 .373 .544 AS,MVP-4,SS
    2022 30 NYY 138 509 116 158 57 123 88 154 .310 .414 .692 AS
    Career 710 2577 518 729 215 489 449 887 .283 .391 .581
    162 avg. 162 588 118 166 49 112 102 202 .283 .391 .581
    Bold season totals indicate player led league. Italic season totals indicate player led all major leagues.
    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
    Generated 9/14/2022.

  • Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.

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