Yankees' Aaron Judge Says He's Open to Playing in 2026 World Baseball Classic

Aaron Judge didn't suit up for Team USA in the last World Baseball Classic, but the New York Yankees star is open to the idea of representing the United States in 2026.

"I think that'd be pretty fun. It'd be cool to represent your country," Judge said, per Fox Sports' Deesha Thosar. "[Team USA] made it to the finals, but they didn't win it. So we gotta win it. We'll see."

The 2023 World Baseball Classic Team USA roster featured stars like Pete Alonso, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout and more, but Judge was absent from the group.

Judge elected not to participate in 2023 to focus on the Yankees after he was named a team captain.

"My focus is on New York and especially being named captain, I didn’t want to miss any time at spring training," Judge told reporters in 2023. "There’s so many young guys here that I’ve only seen on Twitter, or the prospect reports. I want to get a chance to be around these young guys and get to know them and kind of show them what we do here."

Team USA would have benefited greatly with Judge as it fell short against a talented Japan team highlighted by Shohei Ohtani. While the United States didn't walk away with the win in 2023, the tournament gave fans an unforgettable moment between Ohtani and Trout, who were teammates at the time.

Perhaps seeing Team USA lose last time around will be enough motivation for Judge to represent his country in 2026. The addition of Judge would certainly give the United States a major roster upgrade.

Judge is coming off a season in which he led the majors in home runs (58) and RBI (144) while posting the second-best batting average (.322) and the best OPS (1.159). He won his second AL MVP and led the Yankees to their first World Series since 2009.

He'll look to put together another MVP-caliber season this year before potentially joining Team USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.