ORLANDO, Fla. — Tuesday was another slow news day for the Yankees at the Winter Meetings.
No free agent signings, no trades, not even an interesting new rumor.
Besides agent Scott Boras revealing eight teams in the chase for Yankees free agent Cody Bellinger in a very entertaining cryptic way, the highlight of the day was the media availability with managers and general managers for 19 of the 20 countries participating in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, everyone from Cuba.
With Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers and former Yankees in the same room promoting next spring’s tournament, this was an opportunity to see what they think of the superstar slugger who has signed on to play in his first WBC, Yankees captain Aaron Judge.
NJ Advance Media tracked down six managers and two GMs representing seven countries for takes on Judge, who has won two American League MVPs in a row and three in the last four years.
There were some fascinating takeaways.
Nicaragua manager Dusty Baker nicknamed Judge after a folk hero lumberjack.
Dominican Republic skipper Albert Pujols broke down his swing.
Puerto Rico GM Carlos Beltran talked about playing for the Yankees when Judge was coming up through the minors.
Italy manager Francisco Cervelli, a Yankees catcher from 2008-14, compared Judge to one of his superstar teammates.
Judge reminds Canada manager Ernie Whitt of George Brett “without pine tar.”
Also weighing in were the GM and manager for Team USA, Michael Hill and Mark DeRosa, along with Mexico manager Benji Gil.
All eight provided vignettes on Judge, who will captain team USA in its upcoming bid to avenge a loss to Japan in the 2023 WBC championship game.
ALBERT PUJOLS, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MANAGER
“Working for the (MLB) Network, I have opportunity to break him down (Judge’s) swing. It’s very special. He’s doing things in this game that’s kind of been fading away, which is hitting for average, power, driving in runs, taking his walks. For a guy with that stature, especially as big as he is, he’s also a guy that can run and he plays great defense in the outfield. So he’s pretty much a complete player.
“For me, how I approached the game was something that I worked on for a long time, since I was in high school and college. A lot of hitting coaches helped me along the way. To see Aaron is doing the same thing and what he’s been doing in this game is pretty amazing. The game has changed, but it doesn’t matter to Judge. He’s going to get ready and do what he needs to do to help the organization try to win a championship and have the best career that he can have.”
CARLOS BELTRAN, PUERTO RICO GM
“Honestly, when it comes to Judge, I just can’t tell you how proud I feel for him. I had him as a young player in spring training the years that I played for the Yankees and he was trying to figure out a lot of things. He was trying to figure out his swing. He was trying to figure out the way he played. He put a lot of effort into trying to find a consistent swing.
“I knew that he was going to be a good player and an everyday player. To say that he was going to be the player that he is, I didn’t have a crystal ball to see that, But I could tell that he had good energy, good passion. He cared. He just wanted to learn. He was one of those guys that wanted to hear input. He was open to information. To me, that’s an opportunity to continue to grow in baseball.
“To see what he’s been able to accomplish … He’s not only a great hitter and defender. He’s a captain, a guy who relates well in a clubhouse. He loves to help. He knows the responsibility of being an everyday player. He understands what his effort day in and day out means. And being able to hit .330 in baseball, that’s not easy, man. I never hit .330. I don’t know how that feels. And being able to hit 50 home runs, being able to be the MVP three years, that’s an incredible achievement. There’s no doubt that all the work that he has put in to become consistent hsas really paid off for him.”
DUSTY BAKER, NICARAGUA MANAGER
“He’s Paul Bunyan out there on the field. Big Judge! How many athletes are big and athletic and can play center field like Judge? Most of them are DHs or first basemen. Not only the power, I really like that he’s an RBI man. Give me the RBI man. And (like Judge), every hitter should care about batting average. That’s something that you pride in as a kid, but lately batting average doesn’t matter.
“I’ll take a whole bunch of (high) batting-average guys, but the game has sensationalized the walk and diminished the need for the RBI, which I don’t understand because how are you going to win games without RBIs? That’s the thing that I admire about Judge. He’s Paul Bunyan!”
FRANCISCO CERVELLI, ITALY MANAGER
“I live in Italy, so it’s sometimes hard to see Yankees games, but I follow Aaron Judge a little bit. The era that I played, you had a lot of lot of guys with a big average and big home runs. I played with A-Rod. But I think Judge is not from this planet. You put this guy in another category. As a hitter, I would same Judge is similar to A-Rod. But Judge is huge. I think he’s going to be remembered as a top five player of all time because it’s just unbelievable what he can do. I grew up in the Yankees and the mentality always was win, win, win, win. That’s been the message forever. That was the message I got starting when I was in the minor leagues over there. I think for Aaron Judge, what he does working so hard to get better and better is coming from that mentality. It’s not about him. He wants to win. That’s why he’s going to hit every year .330 with 50 to 60 homers.”
MARK DEROSA, USA MANAGER
“The quality of the at-bat, the controlling of the strike zone … (Judge) gets more bad calls than anybody in the game. I watch on a nightly basis. So he has to deal with that. He reminds me of the Bonds stuff. He might get two or three pitches (to hit in a game), and he doesn’t miss them.
“He has created a swing that works for him and he is so powerful and knows the strike zone so well and knows how guys are trying to attack him. And he’s so confident in what he’s doing. Yeah, he’s must-see TV for me. I stop and watch every at-bat.”
MICHAEL HILL, USA GM
“That was a big get for us. We wanted a positional pillar, and there’s no bigger positional pillar in Team USA than Aaron Judge. We were hoping to set the tone from the beginning that, ‘Hey, we’ve got unfinished business.’”
BENJI GIL, MEXICO MANAGER
“Judge is like a superhero. They should let him play with a cape on! He’s that good. He’s just a full package. He’s a tremendous hitter with power to all fields.
“The greatest thing about Judge is he’s always trying to get better. He’s never satisfied. He’s committed to being great and I think he understands his responsibility to himself, to the Yankees franchise and, most importantly, to the game globally.
“Like I said, he’s a baseball superhero. He’s almost like a combination of Mark McGwire and Juan Gonzalez. I played with Juan and played against Mark. Juan was an RBI machine who would hit for average. Judge is like that. McGwire would hit mammoth home runs. It was a show. People would get to the ballpark early just to watch his batting practice. It’s like that with Judge, who also reminds me of Barry Bonds. He’s there in big moments and takes a walk. It’s a rare combination that Judge is hitting 50 homers, batting .330 and walking a lot.”
ERNIE WHITT, CANADA MANAGER
“I think it’s great for the Classic and great for Judge that he’s participating. It’s nice that he’s willing to give up his time in spring training and go represent the USA. Judge represents true professional baseball.
“Here’s a guy that has power and hits for average. No one else does it now. The guy that I always thought Judge reminded me of from a hitting approach-wise is George Brett. Like Brett, Judge usually puts up a pretty good professional at-bat. They both hit for an average. Brett didn’t hit 60 homers like Judge, but he had power. Like Brett, Judge grinds it out, too. And he does it without pine tar!”
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