Boone hopes Judge is a Yankee 'for his entire career'

Aaron Judge’s remarkable 2022 season should be celebrated with the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who said he hopes the soon-to-be free agent slugger will spend the rest of his career wearing pinstripes.

Boone made his first public comments since the Yankees’ elimination in the AL Championship Series on Thursday on "The Michael Kay Show" on ESPN New York. Boone and general manager Brian Cashman are scheduled to hold news conferences at Yankee Stadium on Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

“I don’t think you’re going to see a season like [Judge] just had from anyone in a long, long time, probably,” Boone said. “It’s just remarkable what he put together. I think maybe as important is just the person he is for our team and our organization. I think you guys certainly understand the fondness I have for him and the relationship I have with him. Certainly, it’s hard to think that anyone could replace Aaron Judge.”

Judge, who hit 62 home runs to break Roger Maris’ 61-year-old single-season AL homer record, can begin speaking with other teams five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Judge turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million extension with the Yanks in April; Cashman has said the club hopes to retain Judge, but no further negotiations are known to have transpired.

“Hopefully we get to the point where he’s back in pinstripes for his entire career, like I believe it should be,” Boone said. “You never know where it’s going to end up. If that comes [and Judge leaves], you’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust and find other ways to get things done. We’ll see how it plays out, but, hopefully, it does work out between Aaron [and the Yankees]. He’s going to win MVP, and you couldn’t have a better person leading your organization from a player standpoint.”

Boone said that while it has been “brutal” to see the Astros and Phillies continue play in the World Series, preparations are already underway as the Yankees regroup for the 2023 season. Regarding the ALCS sweep by Houston, Boone said that he has second-guessed his decision to lift ace Gerrit Cole in favor of reliever Lou Trivino during the sixth inning of ALCS Game 3.

“That’s one where I feel like maybe I should have stayed with Gerrit,” Boone said.

Even though the Yankees were held to two or fewer runs in three of the four ALCS losses, Boone said that he considers the perception that New York struggled to hit during the postseason to be “frankly, a little bit overblown.” To that point, Boone credited the Astros' pitching staff while pointing out that his team was missing key hitters like DJ LeMahieu and Andrew Benintendi.

“I understand there’s frustration out there and people are upset,” Boone said. “I understand that. I respect that passion. It’s part of the great thing about being part of this organization, that so many people are passionate and care about it. At the end of the day, I have a job to do, and that’s to try and help us be the best we can be. And that’s what we’ll continue to work to do.”

Regarding next year’s roster, Boone said that Isiah Kiner-Falefa “can be” the starting shortstop, though he noted that Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe are also “knocking on the door.” Boone added that he “absolutely” expects Josh Donaldson to continue as the starting third baseman.

Boone said he expects the ’23 Yankees to be a championship contender, and he disagreed vehemently when asked if the roster must be remade to win a World Series.

“No, no, no, no,” Boone said. “We’ve got to get better, no question. Part of that is you’re missing some really key pieces going into a key series. That’s part of it, too. Part of it is being a little bit whole going into the postseason to give you that better chance, to be on better footing. That said, we still had a chance. We still could have won. We still could have got there. We didn’t.”