NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Aaron Judge could be headed back to center field if the Yankees are able to land Juan Soto.
The Yankees added one corner outfielder on Tuesday night in Alex Verdugo and were close to acquiring another in Soto as of Wednesday night.
If that deal comes to fruition, the Yankees are comfortable moving Judge from right field to center to have Verdugo and Soto in the corners.
“We’ll see how everything shakes out this winter, but yeah, I wouldn’t rule that out,” manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday morning at the winter meetings. “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.”
The Yankees have used Judge in center before — including 78 games during his 2022 MVP season — but have been hesitant to keep him there consistently because of the toll the position takes on his 6-foot-7, 282-pound frame.
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But Judge is viewed as a better defender in center than Verdugo, and the Yankees seem willing to stick him there if they pull off the Soto deal to boost their lineup.
“I do feel like wherever I play [Judge], still valuing — say he’s playing center, one or two days a week of DH, especially if you have some of the flexibility there,” Boone said. “That’s a way of preserving him. At the end of the day, you’re moving more in center, so it’s probably more of a demanding position. But I don’t think — for me, it’s not overly more dangerous or anything, especially if you have the ability to use the DH a little bit periodically with him too.”
If the Soto deal is finalized, the Yankees would also add a strong defensive center fielder from the Padres in Trent Grisham, who could receive spot starts in center and serve as a late-game defensive replacement.
As for Verdugo, Boone said the Yankees view him as a “premium corner defender” who could patrol the spacious left field at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees had tried to acquire him in the past before working out a trade with the Red Sox on Tuesday night.
“I’m really excited about it,” Boone said. “He’s actually been a guy that we’ve talked about now for a while. We were finally able to get something done there. He’s been a guy that’s done some things against us. Think he’s a really good two-way player, defends well in the corners, obviously really good bat-to-ball, left-handed. I feel like there’s an edge he plays the game with.”
Verdugo does come with some concerns, though, as the Red Sox had to bench him twice last season for a lack of hustle and reportedly arriving to the park late before a game.
Boone said he had spoken to his good friend and Red Sox manager Alex Cora about Verdugo, though not specifically about those issues.
“I’m not overly concerned about that,” Boone said. “Biggest thing is getting him on-ramped and welcomed and into the program. I feel like we’re going to have a really good, motivated player that hopefully becomes a key part to our team.”