Around the Empire: Yankees news - 12/23/22

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: 24 hours after reintroducing Aaron Judge and naming him captain, the Yankees officially welcomed Carlos Ródon to the Bronx. The lefty is now clean-shaven and excited to be a member of the Bombers. “I’ve always enjoyed pitching at Yankee Stadium. It seems like I have good numbers here,” Rodón said. “Just putting on these pinstripes is something special. A lot of legends have been through this organization. There’s a lot of history here.”

NY Post | Michael Blinn: We know Judge and Anthony Rizzo are pretty close friends, but how much did Rizzo try to persuade Judge to return to the Yanks? It wasn’t a lot, but he did say that he told Judge to do what was best for him. However, he did use an unconventional strategy to lure him back. “I did send him a couple of pictures of our dogs together,” Rizzo said. “Because we both have dachshunds — saying, ‘We can’t break them up!’”

Audacy | Lou DiPietro: Carlos Correa is in agreement with the New York Mets. The Empire State now has a bunch of stars on the baseball diamond. What does Aaron Judge think about the former Astro joining the crosstown team? “It’s exciting news. I found out this morning getting up. New York’s the best place to play. I think he knows that, and he values going out and winning, being in a winning culture, a winning organization,” Judge said. “The Mets are building a winning team over there, they’ve got some great pieces over there, they’ve got a good young core of guys and have some guys locked up for quite a long time so I think Carlos will like playing in New York, that’s for sure.”