Aaron Judge: New Yankees TV analyst Carlos Beltran doesn't need to address sign-stealing scandal

The New York Yankees have a new TV analyst on YES Network for the 2022 season, and it is a name that could make things awkward for some players.

Carlos Beltran joined YES as a part-time game analyst in the offseason. Beltran is a former Yankee, but he was also singled out as one of the key figures behind the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017. Considering it was those Astros who defeated the Yankees in the ALCS that year, the association raised some awkward questions.

For his part, Aaron Judge shrugged off the awkwardness, saying he did not feel Beltran needed to address his role in the scandal.

“In my opinion, I don’t think he needs to say anything to us,” Judge said Sunday, via The Associated Press. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Beltran, he helped me a lot during his time here as a player. Learned a lot of good lessons. He spent a lot of quality time just kind of talking to me about the game, the mental side of the game, his approaches, how to be a good teammate.

“ ... I can’t speak for the whole, group, but I think the things that we’ve got to focus on this year and the things we’ve got to do this year are more important than anything that happened in the past.”

In some ways, the Yankees are still hung up over 2017, so having Beltran around could be awkward. Judge is downplaying that, and understandably so. Dwelling on the past is not going to help the team in 2022.