The New York Yankees season ended without Aaron Judge getting an at-bat in October, and now the team must regroup and focus on improving for next season.
The Yankees captain's season was essentially lost due to injuries. However, the Yankees proved they could win without him in the regular season, but could not come through in October. The front office has been aggressive in the past, but the moves have not paid off. They spent big to keep Cody Bellinger last offseason, but the captain wants to see more.
"We're the Yankees," Judge told reporters after the loss. "I feel like they should go all-in and do what they need to do. If we've got holes, if it's finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That's why I signed back here to play with the Yankees. To fight for a championship."
Judge is one of the best players in the game and will likely go down as one of the best players ever when it's said and done. It would be a real shame if his career ended without a World Series title to show for it. Judge has played in one World Series, and he and the Yankees ran into a Los Angeles Dodgers team that had Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, and would go on to win back-to-back championships.
There will always be the "what if?" around the 2017 Yankees who lost to the Houston Astros, who were later found to have been cheating. Judge is not going to sit around and make excuses. For the Yankees to win it all, he needs to be healthy, but he still wants the team to make moves.
"It's tough to say. I want to trade for everybody, sign everybody every single year, but I know that's not realistic. 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 expect championships and go all-in every year. I'm excited to see what they do."
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