OF shuffle may end with Aaron in center field

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Aaron Judge is likely headed back to center field now that the Yankees have landed Juan Soto.

The Yankees added one corner outfielder on Tuesday night in Alex Verdugo and then reeled in an even bigger fish Wednesday night in Soto, another corner outfielder. With a remade outfield, the Yankees are comfortable moving Judge from right field to center to have Verdugo and Soto in the corners.

“We’ll see how everything shakes out this winter, but yeah, I wouldn’t rule that out,” manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday morning before the trade was completed. “I’ve talked to Aaron about that. I think Aaron’s open to anything and ready for anything. So we’ll see. You never know where the rest of the winter goes, but Aaron in center is certainly in play.”

The Yankees have used Judge in center before — including 78 games during his 2022 MVP season — but have been hesitant to keep him there consistently because of the toll the position takes on his 6-foot-7, 282-pound frame.

But Judge is viewed as a better defender in center than Verdugo, and the Yankees seem willing to stick him there now that Soto and Verdugo have arrived in the corners.

“I do feel like wherever I play [Judge], still valuing — say he’s playing center, one or two days a week of DH, especially if you have some of the flexibility there,” Boone said. “That’s a way of preserving him. At the end of the day, you’re moving more in center, so it’s probably more of a demanding position. But I don’t think — for me, it’s not overly more dangerous or anything, especially if you have the ability to use the DH a little bit periodically with him too.”

Former Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey, for one, does not want to see Judge in center — and he’s not sure Boone is really OK with it.

“No. No. No. No. No. I do not want Judgie as my center fielder,” Casey said Wednesday on his podcast, “The Mayor’s Office.” “I just think center field is so demanding, dude, and he’s such a big guy, and to have to demand him to go so far in the gaps and be on the run — you have to cover more ground as a center fielder. The wear and tear on his body — I don’t like it . .... I don’t think Boonie does, either.”

As part of the Soto blockbuster, the Yankees are also adding a strong defensive center fielder from the Padres in Trent Grisham, who could receive spot starts and serve as a late-game defensive replacement.

As for Verdugo, Boone said the Yankees view him as a “premium corner defender” who could patrol the spacious left field at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had tried to acquire him in the past before working out a trade with the Red Sox on Tuesday night.

“I’m really excited about it,” Boone said. “He’s actually been a guy that we’ve talked about now for a while. We were finally able to get something done there. He’s been a guy that’s done some things against us. Think he’s a really good two-way player, defends well in the corners, obviously really good bat-to-ball, left-handed. I feel like there’s an edge he plays the game with.”