There could be one downside to the Yankees acquiring Juan Soto.
Former Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey expressed concern Wednesday with the Yankees making Aaron Judge their starting center fielder to allow Soto to play right field.
“No. No. No. No. No. I do not want Judgie as my center fielder,” Casey said on “The Mayor’s Office” podcast. “I just think center field is so demanding, dude, it’s so demanding, and he’s such a big guy, and to have to demand him to go so far in the gaps and be on the run — you have to cover more ground as a center fielder. The wear and tear on his body — I don’t like it.”
He added: “I don’t like Judgie in center, though, I really don’t. I don’t think (Aaron Boone) does, either.”
Casey, who was the Yankees’ hitting coach the latter-half of last season, has close ties with Boone from their playing days.
By acquiring Soto and Alex Verdugo and with Giancarlo Stanton locked into the designated hitter role, the Yankees have painted themselves in a box in terms of who will man center field on a regular basis.
They can’t play Soto, Verdugo, Judge and Stanton all on the same day while also employing a glove-first center fielder.
Soto has never played center field in his career and Verdugo has primarily manned the corners.
With the expansive space in left field at Yankee Stadium, a good defender is needed in that spot and Verdugo is a better defender than Soto.
That leaves Judge as the top option to play center, a less-than-ideal scenario considering the physical demands of the position and Judge’s injury history.
“We’ll see how everything shakes out this winter, but yeah, I wouldn’t rule that out,” Boone said Wednesday about the possibility of Judge being the team’s regular center fielder. “I’ve talked to Aaron about that. I think Aaron’s open to anything and ready for anything. So, we’ll see. You never know where the rest of the winter goes, but Aaron in center is certainly in play.”
Judge, while an all-world right fielder, is a slightly below average center fielder, per Fangraphs.
It’s possible the Yankees could use newly acquire Trent Grisham in center field in the late innings or have him play center field regularly when the Yankees deal with an inevitable injury bug.
“I’m not saying Judgie doesn’t want to play there because he wants to play everywhere, dude, he loves baseball and wants to be the man and wants to help the team however he can,” Casey, who opted not to return to the Yankees this year for family reasons, said.
“He probably feels center field he can help them the most. Dude, this guy is a stud. Seeing him in person, it’s incredible how fast he is and how big he is and how much ground he covers, and he has a cannon of an arm too.”
Casey noted how playing center field has perhaps played a role in why Mike Trout has struggled to stay on the field in recent years.
Judge will be 32 next year and his 6-foot-7 frame can work against him at times.
“You start asking yourself too with Trout. We talk about, he hurt himself on the bases, he hurt his calf, he hurt his hamstring, well how much is that from having to go get a ball in the gap, having to get a ball over your head, having to go up to the fence,” Casey said. “How much is the wear and tear on your legs?”