The New York Yankees will not be doing this with Aaron Judge.
The New York Yankees have a whole lot of questions surrounding their outfield heading into the offseason, as both Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham are headed toward free agency.
The general consensus is that Grisham is a goner but that the Yankees will make a strong push to re-sign Bellinger, who will have a host of suitors after a strong 2025 campaign.
But then there is Kyle Tucker, who is also hitting the open market and is being tabbed as an obvious fit in the Bronx.
While I definitely think New York should both retain Bellinger and sign Tucker, the chances of both things happening are slim, and Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter seems to believe the Yanks will land Tucker instead.
"A reunion with Bellinger is a possibility, but an all-out blitz to sign Tucker and keep the Dodgers from adding another superstar is not out of the question," Reuter wrote.
The point of this article, however, is to address some speculation that Aaron Judge could potentially move to center field if the Yanks sign Tucker, considering that Tucker has spent his entire big-league career in right field.
Let me just clear the air right now: it absolutely is not happening.
There is next to zero chance that the Yankees move Judge back to center field — where he spent significant chunks of time in 2022 and 2024 — for a couple of reasons.
First of all, the last time we saw the aging Judge in center field, he was not good. At all. Over 903 innings in center in 2024, Judge managed a minus-9 DRS and a minus-5 OAA. Considering that Judge is 6-foot-7, weighs 282 pounds and was already in his 30s at that point, it isn't surprising.
Judge has even shown decline in right field over the last few seasons (although he did have a nice rebound year in 2025). Why would anyone think he would be any better in center, a position where you have to cover far more ground?
Second, we already know that Judge has an injury history, and asking him to play center field would only increase the chances of him getting hurt again.
Judge is 33 years old and will turn 34 next April. Now is absolutely not the best time to ask him to play a more demanding position.
If the Yankees do sign Tucker, the four-time All-Star will almost certainly be moved to left field. As for center? If New York keeps one of Bellinger or Grisham, they will man the spot. Otherwise, the Yanks can try to give Jasson Dominguez (unlikely) or Spencer Jones a chance there, or they could acquire another player either via trade or free agency.
It isn't going to be Judge, and if the Yankees are, for some inexplicable reason, planning on using Judge in center field in any capacity next season? Someone should lose their job.