New York Yankees star slugger Aaron Judge signed a new deal with the club on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner confirmed that Judge will be the captain of the Yankees in the ongoing Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

Steinbrenner said that Judge’s new deal is worth a total of $360 million and will run through to the 2031 MLB season. There was interest from rivals San Francisco giants, but the Yankees managed to retain their star player in spite of it.

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‘This is an incredible honor. I don’t take lightly,” Judge said after the announcement was made. 

‘I will continue to lead by example. I know there’s going to be couple of more responsibilities with this, but, I’m here to embrace every single obstacle and continue to lead this team and lead this city to not one but multiple championships down the road. I want to say, thank you to everybody, my wife, Samantha and my family being here. That means a lot. Thank you guys,’ he added. 

On being named the Yankee’s captain, Judge said that he was lost for words and did not know how to react. 

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‘I was kind of lost for words,’ he said, adding, “I don’t think I said anything for five minutes. I was pretty taken back. That is such an incredible honor. You look back on this list of individuals who had this title. It’s such an honor.”

Judge started his MLB career with the Yankees back in 2016 as a rookie and has since grown immensely as a professional.

In 2022, he broke Roger Maris’ 61-year record for the league’s most home runs in a season by hitting 62 of them, receiving the AL Most Valuable Player Award in the process.