Aaron Judge

A lot of 2023 draft boards will have Aaron Judge at the top of them, and there is no doubt he belongs there after his record-setting 2022. He famously broke the A.L. Home Run record with 62, scoring 133 runs, driving in 131, and stealing 16 bases to boot. His slash line was an other-worldly .311/.425/.686 with an xwOBA of .463 and wRC+ of 207. The reason he may fall out of the 1.1 slot on draft day is simply fantasy managers anticipating the regression that is likely to come. Steamer projections have him at 43/109/104 for the upcoming season, and his ratios should see a small decline as well. Other concerns include the fact that Judge will be 31 years old for the majority of the season and played in a career-high 157 games last year. What is not of concern are the 81 games he gets to play at Yankee Stadium this year and each one after until 2031, thanks to his 9-year, $360 million free-agent contract. Judge is the guy if fantasy managers want to shore up their slugging early. Just beware that his numbers might look much closer to 2021 than 2022.

Aaron Judge returning to Yankees on nine-year deal

Aaron Judge is staying in the Bronx as he agrees to a nine-year, $360 million deal with the New York Yankees.

Fantasy Impact

Judge has left Yankees fans with a wide range of emotions over the last day. With reports he was signing with the Giants, to agreeing to return to New York today. Judge is coming off one of the best seasons in baseball as he hit 62 home runs with a .311 batting average.