New York Yankees fans react to Aaron Judge being named the 16th Captain in franchise history: "This is so cool and long overdue", "I'm crying"

The New York Yankees have named reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge as their 16th captain in franchise history. It is the team's first captain since Derek Jeter, who held the title from 2003-2014. The announcement was made during a news conference to make Judge's nine-year, $360 million contract official.

They couldn't have made him the captain at a more perfect time. With his new contract, he'll be a Yankee for the rest of his career.

It's quite an honor to have. The team is rich in baseball history, and they don't throw out the term captain lightly. Players have to mean a lot to the organization to even be considered for the role.

Fans couldn't be happier with the announcement. They believe the team made the right choice on this one. Nobody has meant more to the team in recent years.

While this title doesn't hold much weight for other teams around the league, it does in New York. His predecessors before him, like Lou Gehrig and Don Mattingly, make the honor very important.

Now that they've officially re-signed Aaron Judge, New York Yankees fans are ready for the team to compete for a World Series title. Given their off-season, that's not a stretch.

Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees are ready to take the league by storm

They've made some impressive moves in free agency. None more so than re-signing Judge alongside Anthony Rizzo. They also added another ace-type pitcher in Carlos Rodon to a six-year, $162 million deal.

They're building one solid rotation of starting pitchers. Gerrit Cole, Rodon, Nestor Cortes Jr., Luis Severino, Domingo German, and Frankie Montas round out the six-man rotation. A lot of these pitchers could make strong cases about being aces on other teams in the league.

They still have a hole in left field, though. They were linked to re-signing Andrew Benintendi before the Chicago White Sox signed him. Michael Conforto is an intriguing name that's still on the free-agent market.

The alternative would be for the New York Yankees to roll out Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks if they don't find another option. However, with Cabrera's inexperience and how much Hicks struggled last season, this seems like the last option for the team to fall back on.

About the author

Jared "Bloomy" Bloom is a journalist covering Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda and a former college baseball pitcher from Illinois, who just graduated with a Master's degree in Sport Psychology.

A writer with over 3 years of experience, Jared is consistently more concerned with quality than quantity, thoroughly checking multiple sources of information, and prides himself in being knowledgeable not just about MLB, but the game of baseball in general. He loves breaking down plays and game-changing moments, as well as looking closer into players' statistics.

Jared is a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan, and one of his earliest memories is seeing his great-grandfather, a huge Sox fan, in his rocking chair watching a game. Jared started playing from the age of 5 with his grandfather coaching him early on.

Jared loved Tim Lincecum for his quirky delivery and looked up to him as a role model when playing. His current favorite is Phillies star Bryce Harper, an exciting player who doesn't let injuries hold him back. Jared's favorite sports moment is Mark Buehrle's opening day between-the-legs glove flip to first base in 2010.

When he is not watching or writing about baseball, Jared can be found racing BMX at his local Rockford BMX track or coaching his local youth travel baseball team.

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