Aaron Judge is much more than a home run hitter, and the Yankees cannot afford

There is a new American League home run king. Tuesday night, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge swatted his 62nd home run of 2022, a new single-season record in the 122-year-old Junior Circuit. The previous record was, of course, 61 home runs by Roger Maris in 1961.

Here is Judge’s history-making blast:

The 62 home runs are the seventh most in history. Barry Bonds is the all-time leader with 73 in 2001. Mark McGwire (70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998, 64 in 2001, and 63 in 1999) are the only others to top Judge’s total. Here is the AL’s new single-season home run leaderboard:

1. Aaron Judge, 2022 Yankees: 62 and counting
2. Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees: 61
3. Babe Ruth, 1927 Yankees: 60
4. Babe Ruth, 1921 Yankees: 59
5. Jimmie Foxx, 1932 Athletics and Hank Greenberg, 1938 Tigers: 58

Home run records get all the attention and understandably so, but Judge is so much more than a home run hitter. He’s in the mix for a batting title and the Triple Crown, he has played most of the season in center field (and played it well), and he has an outside chance to steal 20 bases as well. Judge is baseball’s first 11-WAR player since Bonds in 2004.

“I tune it out,” Judge recently told MLB.com about all the attention. “I try to stay off all of that stuff as much as I can. If you have a bad game, they’re going to say something. You have a good game, they’re going to say something. I just focus on what I’ve got to do here, focus on helping this team. The opinions of my teammates and coaches, that’s what matters to me.”

Judge’s historic season could not have come at a better time, both for him and the Yankees. He’ll be a free agent in a few weeks and his next contract figures to top $300 million. As for the Yankees, they’ve had an uneven season and nearly collapsed out of the AL East lead entirely. New York is 38-38 since peaking at 61-23 on July 8. The AL East standings since that date:

1. Blue Jays: 46-29
2. Orioles: 41-34
3. Rays: 42-36
4. Yankees: 38-38
5. Red Sox: 31-45

On July 8 the Yankees led the AL East by 15 1/2 games. The lead was whittled down to 3 1/2 games as recently as Sept. 9. The Yankees were able to right the ship somewhat within these last three weeks and they recently clinched the AL East title, as well as a Wild Card Series bye. Still, the fact they had to sweat a little bit is not something they expected a few months ago.

That the Yankees have faded so much these last three months despite Judge’s singular greatness is a damning indictment of the rest of the roster. Judge has hit .345/.494/.769 since our magic date of July 8. The rest of the Yankees have hit .231/.304/.374, which is worse than the .243/.311/.395 league average despite the Yankees playing their home games in home run-happy Yankee Stadium.

Wake-up call isn’t the right word. The Yankees know they need Judge. Their recent play is more like a reminder of exactly how much they need him. Judge is the best player in baseball right now and by definition that makes him irreplaceable. Even if he never repeats 2022, Judge has a track record of MVP-caliber seasons. Losing the 2021 version of Judge would be…