Should Aaron Judge Pack His Bags for the Bronx?

Dealing Carlos Beltran at the trade deadline left the New York Yankees with a void in the middle of their lineup. Could it be time to call up top prospect Aaron Judge?

Life after Carlos Beltran could get ugly for the already struggling New York Yankees offense. Coming into Monday night, the team had an anemic .391 slugging percentage, and now they have lost one of only two productive power hitters.

The problem will be even worse next season with Alex Rodriguez another year older and Mark Teixeira leaving via free agency (he may be terrible but at least he’s a HR threat). With the Yankees seemingly fully committed to building from within, a big free agent signing to address the issue this winter seems like a long-shot.

The Yankees have a number of young outfielders currently having nice seasons with Triple-A Scranton who could be called upon to take the departed Beltran’s rightfield job, but few of them offer the same kind of power potential the 39-year-old slugger brought to the club.

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Using Aaron Hicks in right and A-Rod at DH might be the simplest solution, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. Any of Tyler Austin, Ben Gamel, Jake Cave, and even the recently-returned Mason Williams could provide an upgrade over either of that struggling pair.

Gamel was called up to replace Beltran on the 25-man roster in the immediate aftermath of the trade, so he would seem to have a leg up on the competition. Rob Refsnyder got the first start in rightfield of the post-Beltran era Monday night against the Mets.

When asked who would take over in right long-term, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told Chad Jennings of the Journal News:

“That’s something we’re going to talk about. There’s a lot that’s happened today, [so much] that we haven’t had a chance to really sit down as a staff, sit down with Brian and talk about what we think is best. I’m not so sure there won’t be other things done during the course of this week, too.”

The most intriguing possibility would be the Yankees handing over a regular gig to man-mountain Aaron Judge, who has been dropped to fourth in the team’s MLB Pipeline rankings by the acquisition of Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres before the deadline. 

The biggest obstacle to this is the fact that Judge has been out the last few weeks with a knee injury. He will be activated from the DL Tuesday, but the team will want to give him a little time to rehab in the minors, even if they plan on giving him the call soon.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters Monday that Aaron Judge had absolutely played himself into big league consideration this year, and would be under consideration to help replace Beltran. Cashman also named Tyler Austin and Gary Sanchez specifically as possibilities.

It would be great to see any of the Railriders outfielders receive regular at-bats in the Bronx over the next two months, but there is no denying that Aaron Judge would be the most exciting choice. He is one of the best pure power hitters in the system.

Judge has shown the ability to adapt as a hitter, overcoming the struggles of his first turn through the International League in 2015, as well as a miserable slump in May. An absolutely torrid June landed him IL Player of the Month honors. If he stays that hot, it would be really fun to see what he could do in New York down the stretch.

If the Yankees would put Judge in right and Gary Sanchez at DH for the rest of the year, I honestly wouldn’t miss a minute of any game. It’s time for the team to continue their recent bold rebuilding strokes and give these kids a real shot.