MLB draft: 10 best selections from 2012-16
5. Aaron Judge (2013 draft), 3.10 average WAR
At 6-7 and more than 280 lbs., it was always hard to miss Judge’s potential; that’s why the Oakland Athletics drafted him out of Linden, Cal., High School late in the 2010 draft. Judge declined, opting instead for Fresno State, and batted .369 with a dozen home runs during the 2013 season.
The Yankees may have been surprised when Judge remained available to be taken with the 32nd pick of the 2013 draft. But it took some time for all of Judge’s potential to assimilate with his size. He played more than 350 minor league games – batting .276 – before being deemed ready for the majors.
The initial findings were mixed at best. Judge debuted in August of 2016 and got beat around; he batted .179 in 95 plate appearances, striking out 42 times.
He returned as a full-timer in 2017 and left a far more positive impression. Judge hit a rookie record 52 home runs won the Rookie of the Year Award and finished second behind Jose Altuve in Most Valuable Player voting.
It was an 8.1 WAR season.
Since then Judge has stabilized into a .275, 27 home run guy good for about 475 plate appearances and 5.5 WAR per season. Save for his too-frequent injury-driven absences, the Yanks would eagerly take that.
And he’s done it at a cost of less than $2 million to date.