2013 Judge Drafted

June 6, 2013. The Yankees are on the clock with the 32nd overall pick in the MLB Draft -- a compensation pick, awarded because Nick Swisher walked in free agency and signed with Cleveland that winter. Nobody in the draft room is thinking dynasty. They're thinking "let's get a solid player out of this." They take a 6'7" outfielder from Fresno State who two different scouting reports can't agree on -- some see the best raw power in the entire draft class, others see a strikeout machine who might never make enough contact to matter. Thirteen years later, that outfielder has two unanimous MVPs, the AL single-season home run record, and a captain's "C" on his chest. Nobody -- not the Yankees, not Judge himself -- saw that coming on draft day.

The Pick Nobody Expected

Here's the part that gets lost in the retelling: Aaron Judge didn't expect the Yankees to draft him. Not even close. "The ones I saw the most interest from were a lot of West Coast teams for the most part -- Arizona, San Diego," Judge said after the draft. "I went to a couple of their pre-Draft workouts. The Yankees were the last ones on my mind, because I really didn't talk to them that much."

That's not false modesty. That's a kid from a town of 1,800 people who grew up 90 minutes from Oakland, figuring the team that plucks him out of central California is going to be a West Coast club. Instead, it's the Yankees -- and they only have the pick because of a departed right fielder who spent four years being the loudest guy in the clubhouse.

Nick Swisher declined New York's qualifying offer after the 2012 season and signed with the Indians that winter. That netted the Yankees a compensation pick slotted right after the natural first round -- not a "competitive balance" pick (those go to small-revenue clubs by lottery, and the Yankees don't qualify for those in a million years), just a sandwich pick for losing a free agent. The Yankees had three shots in that range: their natural first-rounder at No. 26 (Eric Jagielo, a third baseman out of Notre Dame), the Swisher pick at No. 32, and a third one at No. 33 -- compensation for losing reliever Rafael Soriano to Washington -- that became lefty Ian Clarkin. Judge was the middle of three consolation prizes from a quiet offseason of losing free agents.

(Swisher's lasting contribution to the Yankees ended up being an accidental one. He walked. The Yankees got a draft pick. The draft pick became the franchise's next great slugger.)

From Linden to Fresno State

Judge grew up in Linden, California, a farm town so small it barely registers on a map, where his parents -- Wayne and Patty Judge, both public school teachers -- raised him to think about a diploma before a paycheck. He was a three-sport star at Linden High, and the football recruiters showed up in force: Notre Dame, Stanford, and UCLA all wanted him at tight end after he caught 54 passes for 969 yards and 17 touchdowns his senior year, a school record. He turned all of them down.

The Oakland A's tried to grab him first, taking him in the 31st round of the 2010 draft -- a courtesy pick with zero chance of getting signed. A high schooler with a scholarship to his parents' alma mater and two teachers for parents wasn't walking away from Fresno State for a token bonus. (Good move. The A's got nothing. Fresno State got three years out of a future MVP.)

Those three years built the player the Yankees eventually bet on. Judge hit .358 as a freshman in 2011 and was named WAC Freshman of the Year. He won the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby in the summer of 2012. Then, as a junior in 2013, it clicked -- Fresno State had moved from the WAC to the Mountain West that year, and Judge started all 56 games, led the conference in home runs (12), doubles (15), and RBI (36), walked 35 times, and posted a .461 on-base percentage with a .655 slugging mark. Across three seasons in Fresno State red, he hit .346 with 41 doubles, 17 home runs, and 35 stolen bases -- yes, stolen bases, a detail that gets funnier every year Judge spends looking like a battleship trying to leg out a double.

Why He Fell to 32

If Judge was this good, why did 31 teams pass on him? The hit tool scared people. Every scouting report agreed he had the best raw power in the entire 2013 class -- a legit 70-grade tool on the 20-80 scouting scale. But at 6'7" with long arms and length in his swing, evaluators worried the strikeouts would follow him all the way up. Some public reports pegged him as a future .250 hitter. There wasn't exactly a long line of 6'7" hitters who'd made it work in the big leagues, either.

The power went in the first round. The doubts pushed him to pick 32.

The Signing

The Yankees signed Judge for $1.8 million, a bit above the $1,677,100 slot value for the 32nd pick, closing the deal right at the July 12 signing deadline. No overslot fight, no holdout -- just business, the kind of transaction that gets a one-line mention in a "Yankees sign their draft picks" roundup and nothing more. Nobody wrote a word in June 2013 suggesting the Yankees had just signed a franchise cornerstone.

The pick that becomes a bust and the pick that becomes a superstar can look identical on the day it happens.

What the Pick Became

You already know how the rest of this story goes. The rookie record chase in 2017. The 62 home runs in 2022 that broke Roger Maris's American League record. Two unanimous MVPs. A $360 million contract and a captaincy that connects him straight back to Derek Jeter. None of it was visible on June 6, 2013. What was visible was a scouting report you could've written about a dozen big, toolsy college outfielders that same June: huge raw power, real hit-tool risk, boom-or-bust profile.

The Yankees got the boom. Nick Swisher's free agency, an obscure compensation formula, and a scouting department willing to bet on the power over the swing-and-miss -- that's the entire chain of events that put the best power hitter of his generation in pinstripes. Sometimes the sandwich pick is the whole sandwich.

Frequently Asked Questions

What pick did the Yankees use to draft Aaron Judge?

The Yankees selected Aaron Judge 32nd overall in the 2013 MLB Draft, using a compensation pick they received for losing free agent Nick Swisher to the Cleveland Indians. It was one of three first-round-caliber picks the Yankees held that year, along with No. 26 (Eric Jagielo) and No. 33 (Ian Clarkin).

Why did Aaron Judge fall to the 32nd pick in the 2013 draft?

Scouts agreed Judge had the best raw power in the 2013 draft class, but his 6'7" frame and long swing created real strikeout concerns. Teams weren't confident his hit tool would translate against pro pitching, which pushed him down draft boards despite the plus-plus power.

Where did Aaron Judge play college baseball?

Judge played three seasons at Fresno State (2011-2013), hitting .346 with 41 doubles, 17 home runs, and 35 stolen bases. He was named WAC Freshman of the Year in 2011 (Fresno State was still in the WAC that year) and led the Mountain West in home runs, doubles, and RBI as a junior in 2013, after the school's move to that conference.

Did any other team draft Aaron Judge before the Yankees?

Yes. The Oakland A's selected Judge in the 31st round of the 2010 draft out of Linden High School, but he turned them down to attend Fresno State instead, choosing college over a bonus that wouldn't have moved the needle.