Aaron Judge’s BP bomb makes Yankees fans miss spring training more than ever

DUNEDIN, FLORIDA - MARCH 21: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees swings at a pitch during the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a spring training game at TD Ballpark on March 21, 2021 in Dunedin, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
DUNEDIN, FLORIDA - MARCH 21: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees swings at a pitch during the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a spring training game at TD Ballpark on March 21, 2021 in Dunedin, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Spring training is delayed until March 5 solely because Major League Baseball refused to initiate a conversation about the new collective bargaining agreement over 40 days after the lockout (which, by the way, was forced upon us by the owners). Remember, it didn’t have to be this way.

And of all the fan bases, the New York Yankees‘ are among those suffering the most. After a disappointing 2021, the roster needed to fill numerous important voids — a discussion we’d rather not lament upon for the 361st time since the beginning of November.

But after being deprived of pretty much an entire offseason of transactions, fans missed out on pitchers and catchers reporting last week and will not see their teams report to Florida or Arizona on time, which, many would have to admit, has alienated plenty because of how ugly the negotiations have been.

Instead of fun clips of our favorite players having a catch in warmer weather, we were treated to Aaron Judge talking about potentially hitting free agency after the 2022 season because the Yankees have yet to offer him a contract extension. So much fun.

A calculated effort by Judge to get that in the media, something many didn’t think he’d elaborate upon unless he was forcefully asked by swarms of reporters in spring training or after regular season games.

Thankfully, Judge continues to carry on unaffected, and fans received a customary offseason clip of the slugger belting a home run during batting practice.

Yankees fans need more Aaron Judge home run highlights … now.

You don’t see the ball land, but its flight path is majestic and you know it was absolutely tattooed. Give us more content from South Florida University, please!!

Position players were supposed to report to spring training on Feb. 20 … but that likely won’t be happening for at least another two weeks. Have you ever missed meaningless baseball this much?

Yankees fans are coming off their first full season of both Judge and Giancarlo Stanton completely healthy and terrorizing opposing pitchers. Part II has been highly anticipated and the delay has so many on the edge of their seat just waiting for a shred of positivity.

Though the Yankees’ offense hummed in 2018 and 2019 without complete campaigns from Judge, we saw the nosedive it took in 2020 without him, and we witnessed how he was among the few helping carry it in 2021. His presence is key to the Yankees’ success, especially after New York lost so much depth.

Just get us spring training baseball (so we can see more of this in an organized manner) and an extension for Judge. It’s really not that much to ask for.

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