Slugger Aaron Judge Under Tremendous Pressure With New York Yankees

Last season, the New York Yankees lineup included both Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, two of the greatest offensive threats in modern Major League Baseball.

Many compared Judge and Soto to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Yankee greats who together, became baseball legends.

Last year Soto, 26, hit 41 home runs, scored 128 runs, and drove in 109 runs, in 713 plate appearances. He was an American League All Star, and a Silver Slugger.

Judge, 32, hit 58 homers, scored 122 runs, and drove in a whopping 144 runs in 704 plate appearances. He, too, was an American League All Star. And he, too, won a Silver Slugger Award. For his incredible season, Judge was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player.

Now Soto is gone.

In what became a bidding war with several teams, Soto signed a massive, 15-year free agent contract with the Yankees city rival, New York Mets, for $765 million.

The Yankees will read about and hear about Soto constantly, as he will be doing offensive damage hitting for the New York Mets in the Yankees back yard.

Judge hits right-handed. Soto from the left side. Together, they provided an almost incomprehensible challenge for opposing pitchers.

Pick your poison. Judge or Soto? Pitch to one, but not the other? Pitch to both at your own risk. Or, don’t give either of them anything to hit.

Soto walked 129 times.

Judge walked 133 times, with 20 of them being intentional.

This season, Soto won’t be in the Yankees lineup to help lead what was a very, very potent offense.

And the Yankees may be without slugger Giancarlo Stanton for quite some time, as Stanton is dealing with sore elbows. His condition may cause him to miss time at the beginning of the season. It may linger for quite some time.

rotowire.com reports that Stanton is “receiving platelet-rich injections in both of his elbows to help treat his tendinitis.”

No Soto. Possibly no Stanton for a period of time.

Two New Offensive Players:

The Yankees are hoping newly signed free agents Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt can help compensate for some of the offensive loss of Soto, and possibly Stanton for an extended period.

Bellinger, 29, will play center field for New York, with veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo remaining an unsigned free agent.

A left-handed hitter, Bellinger should find the cozy right field porch in Yankee Stadium to his liking. However, for this old scout, Bellinger remains a “boom or bust” player. He has shown inconsistency in his offense for the past several seasons. If the “solid” hitting Bellinger shows up, he will help ease the sting of losing Soto.

The right-handed hitting Goldschmidt plays first base. Now 37, it is undeniable Goldy’s best years are in the rear view mirror. Hopefully, he can find a spark to help the Yankees score runs.

Of lesser significance to the big picture of the Yankees offense, second baseman Gleyber Torres has signed a one-year free agent contract with the Detroit Tigers.

Torres isn’t a star. However, Torres did provide the Yankees with some loud offense at times, especially in the postseason.

The Yankees will have Jazz Chisholm Jr. around from the start of the season.

Chisholm Jr., 27, should be in the prime of his career.

Chisholm Jr. came over in a trade with Miami in July 2024. He is an exciting player, and leading off for New York, he should be able to set the table for Judge, who will still hit 2nd in the lineup.

Chisholm Jr. will play second base to start the season.

Yankees Lineup:

fangraphs.com lists the Yankees potential opening day lineup as follows:

Jazz Chisholm Jr.-@B

Aaron Judge-RF

Cody Bellinger-CF

Paul Goldschmidt-1B

Austin Wells-C

Anthony Volpe-SS

Ben Rice- JD LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Trent Grisham, DH

Jason Dominguez-LF

Oswaldo Cabrera-3B

For this scout, two/thirds of the Yankees lineup is very questionable. Potentially weak.

One has to wonder if Goldschmidt, Wells, Volpe, Dominguez, and Cabrera will hit?

And, is Dominguez, only 22, really ready for a major role in the Yankees lineup?

spotrac.com lists the Yankees current tax payroll to be $293,886,666, which places them only behind the Dodgers, Mets, and Phillies in current tax payroll.

It isn’t as if the Yankees aren’t spending money to try to stay ahead of the Orioles, and the Red Sox in the wicked American League East.

The question for this scout, remains the offense.

After losing Judge, and with an injured Giancarlo Stanton, do the 2025 Yankees have enough firepower to overtake the Los Angeles Dodgers? Or maybe even the Mets, or another National League juggernaut?

To this old scout, Aaron Judge can’t help but feel immense pressure to produce.