Yankees star Aaron Judge refuses to commit to 2026 WBC despite admitting it ‘captivates the world’

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge has refused to commit to the 2026 World Baseball Classic, despite hailing this week’s exciting final matchup between Japan and the United States.

LA Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani led Japan to a 3-2 victory over the USA in the WBC final on Tuesday, drawing an average viewership of 5.2 million and Judge appears to have been one of them. .

The slugger praised the “fun” tournament for providing a stage to watch the best names in baseball duel.

However, when asked if he would play the next edition, which MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced would take place in 2026, the 6-foot-7 star was noncommittal.

“It’s hard to say now, with three years to go,” Judge said, via The New York Post. We’ll see when the time comes.

But the slugger praised Japan’s thrilling 3-2 win over the United States in Tuesday’s final.

‘It’s a fun and incredible event. captivate the world You have kids everywhere staying up late watching these games, and you have the best players in baseball competing. We’ll see where we are when the time comes.

Judge had made the decision not to play for the USA in this year’s WBC because he had just signed his new $360 million contract with the Yankees and had been named the team’s 16th captain by owner Hal Steinbrenner.

However, last season’s AL MVP still had his eye on the Hollywood-style finish as he rooted for his country against Samurai Japan.

Ohtani took over Japan’s first WBC crown since 2009 from the mound in a delicious matchup his THE angels teammate while hitting Mike Trout.

“I wish Trout had hit a home run to keep the US in the game, but any time you see two of the best in the game fight on a 3-2 pitch, that’s what any baseball fan wants to see.” happen”. a’, said the judge.

“You’ll never see that anywhere else, with both of them on the same team and at the top of their game.”

Judge entered the offseason as one of the most in-demand free agents in MLB after a record-breaking 2022 season that saw him surpass Roger Maris’ AL mark of 61 home runs.

The 30-year-old has had a relatively uneventful spring training so far, but he’s not making a big deal out of the results.

Japan’s Shohei Ohtani (left) struck out LA Angels teammate Mike Trout (right) for the win

Judge has had a relatively uneventful spring training, but doesn’t care about results

After all, he endured a disaster in the Grapefruit League last year, only to go on to hit 62 home runs in the regular season.

And he insisted that the goal is to improve those statistics, claiming that he still has things to ‘build’ on.

‘I’m trying this [spring] same thing I always do,’ Judge said. ‘I’m just trying to improve on last year.

‘You still have things to build. I’m not trying to change everything. I try to keep most of what I’m doing the same and find two or three small things to work on.’

Asked how that process was going, Judge said: ‘We’ll see when the season starts. Neither number matters until Opening Day.’