Yankees’ Judge avoids surgery; Rodón expected to miss time

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge won’t need surgery on his elbow, but left-hander Carlos Rodon underwent an operation this week and is expected to miss Opening Day.

Judge’s throwing was limited after he hurt the flexor tendon in his right elbow in July. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday that an MRI after the team was eliminated last week showed “no surgery is going to be needed.”

“He’ll take some time off and continue to do strengthening things and rehab and stuff,” Boone said. “But it felt like he finished the season in a pretty good place, as we saw continued improvements with him.”

Judge, 33, led the majors in batting average (.331), OPS (1.144) and WAR (9.7) while finishing with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs. He hit .500 with 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 4 walks in the postseason.

Boone said he expects Judge to be New York’s every-day right fielder in 2026 and downplayed the idea that the two-time American League MVP could see some playing time at first base.

Judge hurt the elbow making a throw at Toronto on July 22. The seven-time All-Star returned Aug. 5 from a 10-day stint on the injured list and threw gingerly upon his outfield return Sept. 5. He built up arm strength and made a 90.2 mph throw from right field in the AL Division Series opener.

Rodón was operated on by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his left elbow and shave a bone spur. He has eight weeks of no throwing, and the start of his season is expected to be delayed by a couple of weeks, Boone said.

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Rodón, who will turn 33 in December, was 18-9 with a 3.09 ERA.

Boone also said slugger Giancarlo Stanton does not need surgery on his elbows.

“He’s in a pretty good place,” Boone said. “He’ll treat it and everything, but nothing expected for Big G.”

Gerrit Cole, returning from Tommy John surgery in March, will throw lightly off a mound next week and could be available not far after Opening Day.

New York has a record 27 World Series titles but none since 2009. After beating the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series, the Yankees lost a four-game ALDS to the Blue Jays.

“It’s just playing at the highest level at the most important time, and you’ve got to maintain that and do that for the entire month of October,” said Boone, the manager since the 2018 season.

After losing to the Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, New York started the season 35-20, slumped during a 25-34 stretch as its bullpen struggled, then closed 34-14 and lost the AL East to Toronto on a tiebreaker.

“Could I have been more creative in some of the things that I could have done in those games in the middle of the season where we were a little short?” Boone asked out loud.

Boone’s contract runs through 2027.

“He’s one of the better managers,” GM Brian Cashman said. “Because of our environment, he’s someone that can be second-guessed 10 million times over.

“And I don’t care who you put in that, that would be the same, whoever else would be there. I trust him. I think he’s a good man. I think he works his tail off.”

Among potential free agents, Cashman said the Yankees would like to retain Cody Bellinger.

“We’d love to have him with our team moving forward,” he said.

Bullpen coach Mike Harkey and first base/infield coach Travis Chapman won’t return for 2026. Assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler won’t be in that role, and minor league hitting coordinator Jake Hirst will be taking that job.

Cashman added that third-base coach Luis Rojas was given permission to interview for Baltimore’s manager opening and that hitting coach James Rowson was allowed to interview for Minnesota’s manager job.

ESPN’s Jorge Castillo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.