Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner says he had no problem with Aaron Judge’s public push for the team to “go all-in” after New York’s playoff exit.
Judge made the comments after the Yankees were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS, a series in which the lineup managed only five runs while Judge was out with a rib injury. The star slugger made it clear he wanted the front office to keep pressing for a championship-level roster.
"We're the Yankees," Judge said. "I feel like they should go all-in and do what they need to do.
If we've got holes, if it's finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That's why I signed back here to play with the Yankees.
To fight for a championship."
Steinbrenner responded Wednesday and said he wasn’t offended by the message.
"Was I upset about it? No," Steinbrenner said.
"If I was a player, I would have expectations that my ownership group would do everything in their power every offseason to field a team that could win a championship. There's nothing wrong with expectations."
He pointed to the team’s spending last offseason as proof the Yankees did exactly that. New York brought back All-Star outfielder Cody Bellinger on a five-year, $162 million deal, finished 93-69, and reached the postseason for the ninth time in the last 10 years.
"We did that this year," Steinbrenner insisted. "We had the highest payroll in the history of the organization.
We got to a point later in the offseason where we still felt we weren't good enough, so we went out and signed (Cody) Bellinger to a huge contract. Glad we did.
He's a good player, so I definitely think we went all-in this season. I definitely think we had a team that was every bit capable of winning a championship.
No, it did not work out."
Steinbrenner also said he had a "great conversation" with Judge on Tuesday, though he followed that by laying out his own expectations for players.
"And by the way, I have expectations of my players," Steinbrenner said. "I expect them to obey the rules, to work hard, listen to their coaches and the trainers and the strength guys.
Expectations are a good thing. Any relationship in life is a two-way street, and part of that is having expectations of each other.
So no, I wasn't bothered by it at all."
Judge’s own season was interrupted by the rib injury, which kept him out for more than three months. He returned from the injured list in early September without a rehab assignment, then went 4-for-23 with 13 strikeouts in seven games before getting sidelined again and missing the playoffs.
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