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Former Yankees Home Run Leader Makes Big Career Move

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 10:35 AM ET

Unsurprisingly, Aaron Judge has led the New York Yankees in home runs each of the last five years.

What about 2020, though? Judge missed part of the shortened 2020 season with a calf injury, but it wasn't Giancarlo Stanton or Gleyber Torres who topped the Yankees' homer chart that summer.

Instead, it was first baseman Luke Voit, whose 22 homers led the entire sport.

Five years later, the only way Yankees fans will enjoy Voit's homers is if they plan on streaming Japanese baseball. Voit, who last played in the majors in 2023, signed with Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles this week.

Voit spent the last two seasons in Mexico after a failed Milwaukee Brewers stint. The 6-foot-2, 258-pound slugger mashed .324 with 11 homers and a 1.050 OPS for Tigres de Quintana Roo this year.

Contract details were not available at the time of publication.

Voit joins a Rakuten club featuring ex-Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco and journeyman pitcher Spencer Howard among its ex-MLBers. Additionally, ex-Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is one of the team's assistant coaches.

Although Voit played for five MLB teams, he's best known for his four-plus seasons with the Yankees. Voit hit .271 with 68 homers and a .883 OPS over 281 games in pinstripes, helping the Yankees to four consecutive playoff berths.

If we've seen the last of Voit in the majors, he'll eventually retire with a .253 average, 95 homers, and a 5.5 bWAR. That's not bad for a 22nd-round pick who didn't make his MLB debut until his age-26 season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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