The Yankees’ dream addition to their offense likely will lead to an outfield configuration that is less ideal.
If the Yankees stay pat with their outfield — a likely outcome, general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday — Aaron Judge will be their everyday center fielder for at least the first several months of the season.
Judge has proven capable in center before, including for 78 games during his 2022 MVP season, but the Yankees have preferred the 6-foot-7, 282-pounder playing a corner to save his legs (and toes).
The Yankees have added Juan Soto — an elite bat but a below-average corner outfielder — and Alex Verdugo, who is a fine left or right fielder but has not played center in the past two seasons.
With Jasson Dominguez out until at least June, the Yankees’ best alignment would involve asking a lot from Judge, who will be 32 in April and is coming off a severe injury.
“If today was Opening Day, Judge would be out in center field,” Cashman said over Zoom on Thursday. “He’s exceptional at that. And so we had a lot of conversations with that scenario.”
Judge has always preferred center, but even team brass has felt in the past that his legs would hold up better in a corner.
The Yankees hoped adding Harrison Bader at the 2022 trade deadline would take some weight off Judge and provide a stronger overall outfield.
A friend of Judge’s — and the hitting coach during the second half of the 2023 season — sounds concerned.
“No. No. No. No. No. I do not want Judgie as my center fielder,” Sean Casey, who is not returning to the club, said on “The Mayor’s Office” podcast. “I just think center field is so demanding, dude, it’s so demanding, and he’s such a big guy, and to have to demand him to go so far in the gaps and be on the run — you have to cover more ground as a center fielder. The wear and tear on his body — I don’t like it.”
Cashman betrayed no such concern with Judge and said the torn ligament in his toe is “a resolved issue” and “behind him.”
The configuration might be juggled midseason when Dominguez could return from Tommy John surgery and be a fit for center field.
“We’ve made some big moves the past couple of days and looking forward to making a couple more, but it’s gonna be a fun season I think for Yankee fans,” Judge said Thursday morning on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
It is also possible that Trent Grisham plays his way into a bigger spot with the team.
Grisham, who came over with Soto from the Padres, is a two-time Gold Glover in center who projects as the team’s fourth outfielder and a late-game defensive replacement.
Grisham was an above-average hitter from 2019-21 but has struggled the past two seasons, in which he has a combined .647 OPS.
“Don’t sleep on Grisham,” Cashman said. “He’s a nice, quality, we believe championship-quality piece as well.”