NEW YORK — In an announcement with significant implications on both Aaron Judge’s career and the Yankees’ near-term future, Major League Baseball revealed Friday that Judge has received a 162-game suspension without pay for testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance. Judge will miss the entire 2022 season.
“We were extremely disappointed to be informed about Judge’s suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said in a statement. “The violation is very unfortunate for him, the organization, our fans and the sport. The Yankees fully support MLB’s efforts toward eliminating performance enhancing substances from the game.”
Judge previously served an 80-game suspension in 2014 after violating MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for the first time while in the Yankees minor league system. Playing for the Single A Charleston River Dogs at that time, Judge tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic better known as Lasix, which is often used to help mask banned substances in urine tests.
“I understand that everything that goes into my body,” Judge said in a prepared statement following that suspension announcement, “I’m responsible for that.”
According to a source, Judge did not plan to release a statement following his latest positive test.
“If I had any concern about what Judge’s physical state or performance ability going forward is, I would not have offered a contract extension,” Cashman said shortly after the announcement. “This guy has huge ambition to be able to be great in the coming years. All of us have great confidence that a bat as consistently good as Aaron Judge has been over the years, he’s not going to lose that skill set. And if he continues to work as hard on his body and his defensive mobility, there’s no reason he can’t be a productive defensive player for us as we go forward, too.”
Judge will forfeit the entirety of his $10.18 million salary in 2022.
A career .276 hitter with 571 hits and 158 home runs over 6 seasons with the Yankees, Judge has been working toward a Hall of Famer career. But voters have historically taken a strict line with players even suspected of PED use, let alone those with documented positive tests.
While Judge’s suspension will have a seismic impact on the Yankees’ roster and payroll, the team is well-covered in the outfield in his absence with Hicks, Stanton, and LeMahieu.
No matter what the Yankees choose, Judge’s long-term future is unclear. He remains under contract through 2023, eligible for arbitration. It is unknown if the Yankees will welcome Judge back following multiple violations of MLB’s drug policy, or if they will move on despite their long-term financial commitment to him.
It is pretty impressive if you’ve actually read and believed everything to this point because you clearly did not look at today’s of April 1.