The United States’ 2026 World Baseball Classic team announced the return of 2023’s manager, Mark DeRosa, last week. And now, Team USA has its captain as well. That would be New York Yankees’ star Aaron Judge, who will be making his first appearance in a WBC. Given he’s literally Aaron Judge, though, who else would you want to name captain of Team USA if he’s willing to play?
Judge is a genuine superstar, and not just because of the team he plays for at his day job. Judge has won a pair of American League Most Valuable Player awards despite having to share the AL with Shohei Ohtani prior to 2024, and has batted an astounding .301/.419/.642 with 202 home runs since 2021. All with little sign of slowing down, either: he might be 33 years old, but he’s begun the 2025 season hitting .357/.478/.750 with a league-leading six long balls.
While Judge has never appeared in the WBC before, it’s not because he’s shown disinterest. His invitation for the 2023 tournament just arrived at the wrong time — Judge was a free agent that offseason and focused on that, and had hit an AL-record-breaking 62 home runs in 2022, which had meant a longer, more exhausting and all-encompassing season given the added attention on it.
Back in February of 2025, Judge said that, “Hopefully they still want me” when approached on the subject by FOX Sports’ Deesha Thosar. “It would be cool to represent your country,” Judge told FOX Sports. “[Team USA] made it to the finals, but they didn’t win it. So we gotta win it. We’ll see. We’ll see.”
Regarding declining the 2023 team invite, Thosar explained, “When the two-time MVP award winner eventually signed a nine-year deal with the Yankees and was named captain in December of that year, his main priority became spending time with his teammates. Specifically, he wanted to make sure he got to know the prospects in the organization, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Judge felt an added responsibility as captain to come early to spring training and coach up the team’s younger players.” More secure in his role within the organization now and comfortably in the middle of that same contract he signed, Judge can afford the spring diversion of an international tournament.
Rosters won’t be officially finalized until next February, before the tournament begins, but if Judge is there as intended, he’s got a role beyond hitting dingers to play.
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