Jordan Brand announced on Friday that Aaron Judge, the captain of the New York Yankees and 2022 AL MVP, has officially joined the company as a Jordan Brand-sponsored athlete. Judge joins Air Jordan after having previously been sponsored by Adidas, though he had told "Complex" this past June that he was a sneaker free agent.
Judge becomes the newest MLB player to join Jordan Brand, joining a group that also includes Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Yankees legend Derek Jeter is also a Jordan Brand athlete, and he remains so in his post-playing career.
Specifics of the deal, which aligns Judge with Michael Jordan's namesake brand, were not disclosed. As part of the announcement, ad materials were released that included Judge's recreation of Jordan's famous "6 Rings" portrait.
After breaking the AL record for home runs in a single season and earning AL MVP honors in 2022, Judge was handsomely rewarded with a new nine-year, $360 million deal that entrenches him as the face of the Yankees franchise. But despite Judge's individual success, a toe injury suffered earlier this year has both spoiled his own 2023 season and exposed the inadequacies of the Brian Cashman-constructed team around him.
Judge is currently batting .281 with 22 home runs, and the Yankees are currently last in the AL East at 60-61, in danger of their first losing season since 1992.
