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Aaron Judge's rumored aversion to Yankees' analytics confirms he wouldn't have fit Gabe Kapler's Giants

He might have hated it in San Francisco.
ByNick San Miguel
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Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees injured right fielder Aaron Judge (99) watches from the dugout during the second inning of game three of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees injured right fielder Aaron Judge (99) watches from the dugout during the second inning of game three of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We are now four years removed from the whole saga surrounding Aaron Judge potentially joining the San Francisco Giants. While it seems like a fanciful pipe dream looking back, at the time it seemed like a genuine possibility given the fact he grew up a Giants fan and especially after Jon Heyman’s infamous “Arson Judge” tweet.

Obviously, Judge stayed with the New York Yankees and really just used the Giants as a bargaining chip in the process, but maybe that’s best for all involved because of some recent reporting about how hitters on the Yankees are reportedly somewhat averse to analytics.

This comes from Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. He reports that there is a contingent of players in New York, and Judge is among them, who, “have made it known that they’re not as into analytics.”

With how New York’s offense struggled at times last season it seems like there’s a decent chance that’s going to change especially after a disappointing showing against the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS, but from the perspective of the Giants maybe that aversion to analytics played a very minor role in Judge deciding not to go to San Francisco.

Keep in mind, all the speculation about him going to the Giants came after the 2022 season. Farhan Zaidi was still the president of baseball operations and Gabe Kapler was still the manager. Those guys were all-in on analytics and while it’s doubtful they would have forced Judge to do anything he was uncomfortable with had he signed with San Francisco, maybe that general ethos would not have been a very good fit for him.

Giants were not a great fit for Aaron Judge for a host of reasons

Of course, beyond everything else Judge clearly wanted to play for a winning franchise. The Yankees are at least in the mix every season and while Judge probably could have helped the Giants make the playoffs at least once or twice had he signed with them, it’s clear the organization has not exactly had a winning culture for a while.

Ironically, the Giants have moved away from analytics in the years since. Zaidi and Kapler are gone and now Buster Posey is running the show with a smaller analytics staff.

Judge was never coming to the Giants, but if he did it definitely seems like he wouldn’t have been a fan of the way the organization was doing things in terms of analytics on the hitting side.

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