The Tuesday Discussion: Is Judge The Best...Ever?

April 29, 2024

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This week we asked our writers the following:

Aaron Judge continues to get better and better and better.  If not for a wall in Los Angeles and a terrible vote in 2017, he would have four MVP Awards.  He's on his way to his 5th.  

Is Aaron Judge the best player you have seen in your lifetime as a fan?  

If not, who is the greatest player you have seen?

Here are their responses...

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Tim Kabel - Being one of the oldest writers for SSTN has its occasional advantages. I have seen more players than most. I just missed out on seeing Mickey Mantle but, I did see Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. I saw Ken Griffey Junior and obviously, Albert Pujols. For a time, I regularly heard that Manny Ramirez was the greatest right-handed hitter ever. We subsequently found that his accomplishments were tainted.

When you say the greatest player, that is a broad category. Pitchers are baseball players, but you really can’t compare them to every day players in something like this. I saw Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, and Greg Maddox. I think one of the greatest pitchers if not the greatest I ever saw was Nolan Ryan, who played for 27 years and holds 51 MLB records. He rarely played on good teams which affected his win total. Today, wins are not valued as much so, he would be held in even higher regard than he was. Of course, I saw Mariano Rivera, who was the greatest closer in the history of baseball.

However, despite all that, Aaron Judge, whose career is far from over is without a doubt the greatest baseball player I have seen in my lifetime. As noted, he continues to improve. The power is still there, but now he hits for an extremely high average. He is an excellent fielder and throws the ball well. He can do practically everything on the baseball field. The best part about Aaron Judge is that he still has several years left in his career. I consider myself fortunate to see him on a daily basis.

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Cary Greene - Judge is easily the best player in the game today and yes, he's the best overall player I've ever seen. Imagine what would have happened if Cleveland hadn't signed free agent Nick Swisher back in 2013 - a deed that thereby awarded a compensatory draft pick (#32) to the Yankees. With that pick, the Yankees selected Aaron Judge and a Yankees legend was born. The only thing Judge hasn't done is to win a championship and I sincerely hope he's able to do that one day.

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Paul Semendinger - As a kid growing up it was difficult to separate greatness from favorites, but if I were just looking at New York Yankees, the team I have watched and followed closely since 1977, I would have to go with the following order of the greatest I ever saw...

Reggie Jackson - who was replaced by

Don Mattingly - who was replaced by

Derek Jeter - who has been replaced by

Aaron Judge.

Judge has taken his game to a completely higher level these last few years getting better and better and better.

I think it's fair to say I've never seen a better player than Aaron Judge.

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Ed Botti - It is so hard to say, because the game has changed so much since I started closely following it.

Judge is definitely right up there with some of the greats have seen.

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Mike Whiteman - I've seen some great, great ballplayers in my day. Among the best off the top of my head:

Don Mattingly

Barry Bonds

Mike Trout

Alex Rodriguez

Rickey Henderson

Ken Griffey Jr. 

Albert Pujols

I think Judge is the best I've seen. He's been putting up Mickey Mantle numbers since 2022. If only he wasn't hurt in 2023, he likely would have had one of the great three-year streaks in baseball history.  

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James Vlietstra - I’m 47 years old and have been watching baseball religiously for 40 years now. 

Of the RHH during this time, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, Alex Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero were all great players. None of them have put together a string of years that compares to Aaron Judge. 

Some of the LHH include Ken Griffey Jr and Barry Bonds. Judge is 33. By that age Griffey was a shell of his younger self. Bonds, on the other hand, is inner circle HOF worthy. Top 4-5 players of all time so as of now, I will give Bonds the nod over Judge.

But, if Judge is able to finish the year with a 14 WAR, which he’s on pace for, this opinion may change. 

All-time, there’s only a handful of players who can compete with this greatness: Williams, Mays, Wagner, Gehrig, Cobb, Musial, and of course Ruth. 

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Ethan Semendinger - As one of the younger writers on the blog, I am at a distinct disadvantage in this discussion. Since 1998, Aaron Judge ranks 28th overall by fWAR (I don't pay for StatHead by SportsReference, so I don't have a bWAR ranking) behind the likes of all the following players:

Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Adrian Beltre, Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Beltran, Derek Jeter, Scott Rolen, Andruw Jones, Freddie Freeman, Chase Utley, Mookie Betts, Bobby Abreu, Joey Votto, Jose Altuve, Buster Posey, Ichiro, Robinson Cano, Paul Goldschmidt, Lance Berkman, Yadier Molina, Francisco Lindor, Evan Longoria, Todd Helton, and Russell Martin.

Of them, only Trout, Freeman, Betts, Goldschmidt, and Lindor are still playing. Which means, Aaron Judge will certainly pass many of those others in the remaining 6 years on his contract after 2025.

As of right now, Judge is up against players with completed careers and easily stands with them. However, other players- like Mike Trout- did the same and have fallen from grave quickly.

Right now? Yes, Aaron Judge is the best active player. Maybe of my lifetime, but not yet.