Just A Friendly Reminder That Your Favorite Team Probably Could've Drafted Aaron Judge But They Didn't
Yesterday at Yankee Stadium, Aaron Judge hit a 496-foot home run and the reactions in the Bronx were something else.
Last guy had the O’s and the under.
It was Judge’s first of two home runs on the day, giving him a major league-leading 21 home runs, which also puts him on a pace to hit 57 bombs this year. How pissed are you that your team probably could’ve drafted him, but they didn’t? You. Yes, you. Reading this right now. Unless you’re a Yankee fan (obviously), an Angels fan, Nationals fan, or a Brewers fan, your team had the chance to draft Aaron Judge in the 2013 draft, and they selected someone else. Unless you’re a Cubs fan, who took Kris Bryant with the No. 2 pick, your team dun fucked up.
Technically, the Yankees belong on that list too, because they had a pick at No. 26 before they selected Judge with the 32nd overall pick and they used it on someone else. So even the YANKEES didn’t take Judge when they first had the chance. That year, the Angels forfeited their first-round pick to the Rangers for signing Josh Hamilton, the Brewers forfeited their first-round pick to the Cardinals for signing Kyle Lohse, and the Nationals forfeited their first-round pick to the Yankees for signing Rafael Soriano. The Yankees also received a compensation pick from the Indians when the Tribe signed Nick Swisher. The Yankees then used that pick to select…Aaron Judge.
With tonight being the MLB Draft, let’s check out what the prospect experts were saying about Judge as he entered the draft for the second time in 2013 (selected by the A’s out of high school in the 31st round in 2010).
I don’t even think it’s a debate — the MLB Draft is the biggest crapshoot in professional sports. These talent evaluators, more often than not, have no fucking clue who’s going to become what when they’re selecting kids out of high school and college. No clue. You can have a first-round, first overall pick that becomes a nobody who never makes it to the majors, and a guy like Mike Piazza can get drafted in the 62nd round and become a Hall of Famer. The 62nd round doesn’t even exist anymore. The MLB Draft is only 40 rounds now. So, think of it that way — there are high school and college kids who will go undrafted that potentially have Hall of Fame talent. How do you miss on that?
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And the thing about Judge is that all the talk has been about his power, but if the season ended today, he’d win the triple crown. He’s leading the American League in batting average (.344), home runs (21), and RBI (47). But it doesn’t stop there. He’s also leading the league in WAR (4.1) and runs (54), is second to Mike Trout in isolated power (.373), OPS (1.168), and weighted runs created plus (207), and trails only Miguel Sano in average exit velocity (96.7 MPH). Simply put, the man is a fucking monster. And your team probably could’ve had ‘em.