We all saw it coming but Rob Manfred has officially said it: New York Yankees Aaron Judge has the potential to be the next face of the sport.
If you thought the Aaron Judge hype could not get any higher, boy do we have a surprise for you.
The New York Yankees bright spot this season has been dubbed by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred as a player who can “become the face of the game” during a meeting with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America this morning, as reported by ESPN.
Notice who he says “can” instead of “will.” Nobody can deny that right now, Aaron Judge is the most complete player in the MLB. With the power he displayed last night, he only drove his stock up even more.
Not just the power, but the person behind that power. Judge handles the media with ease, consistently driving the conversation away from his personal accomplishments and towards his teammates.
Manfred also told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that Judge is “a tremendous talent on the field and really appealing off the field.”
Well, duh. Clearly he hasn’t been watching the entire season if he is just discovering this now.
Regardless, that’s a huge honor coming from the guy who essentially has all the power in the league. Judge put on a show last night and has all season long, while still remaining humble with all the media attention.
Now those Derek Jeter comparisons don’t look so silly, right? It took some time but now we finally have another Yankee who fits the bill for being the face of the sport.