Team USA has advanced to the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, and Aaron Judge, the captain of the team, made it pretty clear how important that is to him by making a comment that I really take issue with. Many of you probably aren’t going to like what I have to say about this, but it’s my opinion, and if nothing else, I have plenty of opinions. Lets get to it.

I know this is a Yankees newsletter, but I felt the need to make a comment on something outside the Yankees universe because Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez said something following the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinal victory over Korea Friday that really pissed me off.

Clearly caught up in the emotion of playing for his country, Rodriguez said, “I love the Mariners. They know I give my best for them every single time I step on the field, but winning the World Baseball Classic is at the top of the list. This is for my country, this is for my town, this is for the people in my neighborhood. It’s for everybody in the Dominican Republic.”

My immediate thought when I read that was if Aaron Judge, or any Yankee, were to say that winning the WBC would mean more to them than winning a World Series for the Yankees, I would be disappointed, and so should every fan of the team.

Well, Sunday night following Team USA’s thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over Rodriguez and the DR, Captain Judge indeed said the same damn thing. And yeah, it pissed me off.

“It was bigger and better than the World Series,” Judge said. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it. It gives me chills right now thinking about how special that was.”

OK, I get it. There’s a lot of pride in playing for your country, and athletes can certainly get wrapped up in that emotion. Look at the American hockey players’ reaction after they defeated Canada to win the Olympic gold medal last month. Obviously it’s a huge accomplishment, something to be enormously proud of.

I have zero issue with the passion that these guys are playing with in this tournament, and I’m glad they’re enjoying it as much as they are, so maybe I’m coming off as a hard ass, the old man screaming for you to get off my lawn, but what Judge and Rodriguez said was insulting.

Judge talks about the fans who showed up in Houston and Miami to watch the WBC games in America, plus those in the other locales around the world where games were played, but what about the 45,000 who show up 81 times a season at Yankee Stadium to watch the team that actually employs him?

The Yankees gave Judge a nine-year, $360 million contract in 2023, and he played in the World Series in 2024, yet he essentially said Sunday night that playing for Team USA in the WBC was “bigger and better” than playing in the World Series. What?

Rodriguez, who has not yet played in a World Series, signed a 12-year, $209 million contract extension with the Mariners in 2023 when he was all of 22 years old and had played just one full season in the majors.

The Yankees and Mariners are paying these guys more than they could ever have dreamed of while growing up in California and the DR, respectively. I’m sorry, but for them to say that winning the WBC would be the greatest thing they could do in their careers just reeked of selfishness to me, and it was an insult to Yankees and Mariners fans who help pay their enormous salaries by going to games and buying merchandise, and watching them on TV which helps push ratings which therefore increases TV money payouts.

The WBC has been a fun event, and it’s trying to portray itself as the true world championship of baseball, similar to the world tournaments that take place in hockey and basketball, and that’s fine.
But let’s take the WBC for what it is - a jingoistic-fueled two-week tournament held every three years during spring training. And while it certainly generates excitement and national pride, the reality is that most fans forget all about it a few days after it’s over.

Sunday night’s 2-1 USA victory over the DR was a great game - one in which Judge and Rodriguez both made incredible defensive plays - but as far as I saw, Dodgers catcher Will Smith wasn’t spouting off that it was better for him than winning the 2024 or 2025 World Series. Maybe that’s the difference - Judge and Rodriguez have never won the World Series and don’t know what that feels like.

Years from now, if Judge ever wins a World Series with the Yankees, is he seriously going to look back at his career and say winning the WBC - if the Americans pull that off Tuesday night - was better than winning a World Series for the New York Yankees? As a Yankee fan, I sure hope not.

I’m sure many of you disagree with me on this and think I’m being an asshole, but I’m also sure that many of you agree with me.

The electric-armed righty has been making waves throughout spring training with his 100 mph fastball - he actually hit 103.1 the other day against the Blue Jays - but like I wrote last week about No. 1 prospect George Lombard who has since been sent back to minor league camp, the Yankees need to slow their roll with Lagrange and give him time to develop.

There’s been speculation that the Yankees should take Lagrange out to San Francisco to start the season as a relief pitcher. That’s crazy talk and I sure hope they don’t do that. Lagrange needs to be developed as a starting pitcher because he has the potential to be a great one if he can get his command issues figured out.

In four minor league seasons he has averaged 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings, but also 5.2 walks. He jumped up to Double-A Somerset last year and pitched well with a 3.22 ERA in 15 starts covering 78.1 innings, but he walked 5.7 batters per nine.

This spring he’s been better, dropping his walk rate to 2.79, but his strikeout rate is down, too, at 8.38 through 9.2 innings. He needs to start in Triple-A, which would be his highest level so far, and work on fine-tuning everything in his repertoire. And unless the Yankees suffer a spate of injuries in the rotation - beyond the absences of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt - Lagrange should stay in Triple-A as a starter to build up his durability.

Once the rosters can expand in September, if the bullpen needs an infusion either because of injuries or ineffectiveness, the Yankees could always call up Lagrange to help out, and he could be a superb multi-inning option down the stretch and into the postseason.

“As long as he logs some innings,” Aaron Boone said, “and that becomes a real need at some point, I think anything’s possible. You log some innings, or if especially you get a baseline of innings in the minor leagues, and the need comes up at some point this season to where, ‘OK, that’s the role that exists.’ I don’t think that’s the worst thing, having guys break in in that kind of role.”

Also, if they do it this way, then he can return to spring training in 2027 already built up as a starter and he could compete for a rotation spot without the worry of him having to make a big workload jump.

You have to be impressed with the way Dominguez is responding to the challenge he’s facing to win a roster spot. While he continues to be a work in progress in left field, having butchered a few plays but also having made several nice ones this spring, the 23-year-old has been swinging a productive bat.

Overall he’s slashing .371/.395/.686 for an OPS of 1.081 in 35 at bats, but the key numbers to look at are those against left-handed pitching where he has three hits in 12 at bats including a home run. His struggles against lefties - a career .186/.276/.254 slash with a sickly .530 OPS - have been well-documented and it’s probably the No. 1 deterrent for Dominguez avoiding a demotion to Triple-A to start the season.

If he’s going to be the fourth outfielder, he needs to be able to hit lefties because if Boone can’t call on him to pinch-hit against a lefty, he’s just taking up a roster spot.

Looking at the four bench options, you have JC Escarra as the backup catcher, Paul Goldschmidt is the backup first baseman/DH, and Amed Rosario will probably be the utility infielder. That last spot could be open for Oswaldo Cabrera who can play infield and outfield if needed, or veteran Randal Grichuk could take it because he can still handle left field, and he has always been very good against lefty pitchers with a career .268/.318/.500 slash line and an OPS of .819.

The Yankees need some righty pop because the only guys who provide that are Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.