Another Angel in the outfield?
While the Yankees still have a few years to worry about Aaron Judge's future with New York, Yankees brass reportedly bandied about a Judge trade with the Angels during the offseason.
New York and the Angels had very preliminary discussions on a potential Judge trade this past offseason, per ESPN's Buster Olney, but the talks were brief and were "the lightest of flirtations."
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Olney says that the talks could open the door to discuss other potentially available players for a future trade.
Judge is in his Age 29 season and will be 31 by the time his free-agency eligibility rolls around after the 2023 season. When Judge is healthy, he's an elite defender in right field and one of the game's preeminent sluggers. The issue, though, is that Judge hasn't really been healthy since his explosive rookie season in 2017, when he mashed 52 home runs with a 1.049 OPS to go with them.
The biggest question: What would an Aaron Judge trade even look like? The Angels likely have little they'd want to offer up in return for Judge, and the Yankees would have to fill an outfield spot with either Giancarlo Stanton — who the team is avoiding playing in the outfield — or other "ready" outfield prospects who the Yankees are currently light on.
But imagine this: an outfield with Justin Upton, Mike Trout and Aaron Judge. Hooooo boy.
