Yankees News: Aaron Judge responds to facial hair policy, Carlos Rodón, Anthony Rizzo

New York Yankees fans are just happy spring training games have started after the resulting drama that occurred as players reported to Tampa. Between the Marcus Stroman rumors and the facial hair policy change, we're just ready for baseball.

Though Hal Steinbrenner relenting on a 50-plus year "tradition" (with players only being permitted to sport a mustache if they wanted any facial hair) is a good thing, the timing here was odd. And again, it spurred conversation not relevant to production on the field.

Thankfully, the Captain shut down any more chatter about the policy on Saturday. Aaron Judge told reporters that he would not be growing a beard despite the change, and then he dropped the hammer on those who believed players opted against signing with New York because they couldn't grow a beard.

"If that little rule is going to stop you from coming here, then you probably shouldn't be here," Judge said Saturday after the team's spring training game against the Blue Jays.

Do we agree the rule was a little bit "much" in the modern era? Absolutely. But it's perhaps an exaggeration that it "restricted" players from flaunting their individuality. Long hair and/or a beard do not define somebody as a person, and the lack of one of those two characteristics does not change who a person is. Or, at least, that's what we'd take away from what Judge is saying here.

It's obviously a subject that will remain open for debate, but until somebody refutes what Judge said, we'll agree that anybody unwilling to shave their beard or trim their hair probably wouldn't have been a commendable Yankee anyway.

Yankees News: Carlos Rodon struggles in spring debut, Anthony Rizzo still a free agent

Also on Saturday, fans will not be pleased to hear Carlos Rodón struggled in his first outing of the spring against the Blue Jays. Well, some fans, at least.

Others can look past the fact that this is the very beginning of exhibition games. They can also look deeper to see that Toronto had a good portion of their everyday 2025 lineup starting in this one: Bo Bichette, Andres Gimenez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Joey Loperfido, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider. Top prospect Orelvis Martinez, who is vying for a starting job, was also in there.

Rodón lasted just 2 2/3 innings after allowing three earned runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out just one batter. Was it pretty? No. Does it portend bad things? Also no. Should fans be expecting much out of him for 2025? Also no! He hasn't been great, and maybe he'll just be average for the remainder of his contract. Fans have bickered about this for two years now, so it's probably best to let Rodón grow a beard and do his thing without unnecessary critical chatter.

After all, the Yankees upgraded over Rodón by signing Max Fried; much like they upgraded over Anthony Rizzo by signing Paul Goldschmidt. Rizzo, whose tenure was derailed by a head injury suffered in May of 2023, remains a free agent.

He spoke to The Athletic on Friday and reiterated he wants to play in 2025, saying he has "a lot to give to the game still." Then again, he admitted "it could be it" for him as teams might not be willing to pay millions for an older player on the decline.

It's unfortunate how Rizzo's time in the Bronx went. He provided a spark in 2021 after the trade deadline, had a very good 2022, and then was on a heater to begin 2023 before the collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. Ever since then, he wasn't the same and his numbers plummeted in New York.

He finished with a .234/.326/.409 slash line with 60 homers, 172 RBI and a 3.4 WAR over 370 games. Across his final 191 games with the team, he was good for just a 0.7 WAR and he struck out an uncharacteristic 162 times.

Rizzo will need to prove his struggles of that magnitude are in the rearview, so most won't be surprised if he's subjected to a minor league contract (or a very small major league commitment) at this point with spring training already underway.