TAMPA — Aaron Judge was pleased with the offseason additions that the Yankees made coming off a season that left many players “embarrassed,” he said.
But the captain wasn’t ready to close the door yet on other potential moves.
With a number of free agents still available on the market, including top pitchers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, Judge was asked on Tuesday whether there was any part of him hoping the Yankees still had another move in them.
“I hope so,” Judge said after the first full-squad workout at Steinbrenner Field. “They’re always working. That’s the thing that’s amazing about being here with the Yankees. They’re always trying to improve. They’re always trying to make moves, be it a trade or free agency.
“I definitely feel like there might be another move on the way, but you never know. We’ll see.”
The Yankees are not believed to have an offer on the table for Snell, though they could be looming if his price were to fall — as would many other teams.
They did make a contract offer to him earlier in the offseason, but that was before they pivoted to sign Marcus Stroman to join a rotation led by Gerrit Cole and also including Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt.
In the meantime, Judge raved about the moves the Yankees did make in acquiring Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham.
“We’re excited about quite a few guys that we added,” Judge said. “You start at the top with Juan Soto, and the diversity he brings to the lineup, being at the top three in the lineup. He’s going to get on base, he’s going to drive the ball all over the ballpark, he’s a left-handed batter in the middle that we’ve needed for a while now. You add Grisham, another left-handed bat, great outfielder who’s gonna put the ball in play. You’ve got Verdugo who’s done quite a bit of damage against us over the years and now we get a chance to have him on our side.
“It’s just gonna give us a lot of different options we haven’t had over the past couple of years and just excited about getting to know these guys a little bit and just seeing how they work and going out to work with them and pushing toward a championship.”