Mike Francesa is not here for Aaron Judge playing Yankees general manager this offseason.
The WFAN legend took umbrage with the American League home run king’s recent comments about the woebegone Bombers. Judge said he has ideas (and opinions) for how to fix the team moving forward. And Francesa does not think that NBA junk should fly in the Bronx.
“Judge acts like he’s going to be part of building the team, ‘I have my ideas,’” Francesa said on his latest BetRivers podcast.
“You know what? I have never heard in the past players say that. And to me, I’m not saying that they can’t ask a player who is part of the franchise their input. But the idea you want Judge making the decisions as to who should stay or go, give me a break. That’s why you have a front office.”
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Well, have you seen what this Yankees front office has done?
“The modern player has way too much power,” Francesa continued. “They get way too much money and they have way too much power. That’s the bottom line. So I don’t want to hear, ‘I have a lot of …’ Hey, your job is not to judge the other players. Your job is to just play and lead. That’s fine. Do your job to the highest level. You do that, no complaints. Lead, be there in the big game, that’s your job. Your job is not to cut the roster.
“I think it has gotten past where it needs to go from that standpoint. I really do. But hey, that’s modern sports. These guys do it in the other sports, so they figure, hey, let me do it in baseball too.”
The get-off-my-lawn stuff aside, Francesa is not necessarily wrong. Letting players call the shots has become a massive issue for the NBA. But Judge earned the right to throw his weight around when he hit 62 home runs and earned a $360 million contract. And who knows, his ideas may not be all that bad? The Yankees are in deep. They should look at everything and listen to everyone.
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.
