Jeter on Judge being captain: ‘This is historic’

NEW YORK — Derek Jeter was less than six months removed from his storybook ending, the famous walk-off single that sealed his final game in the Bronx, and the retired shortstop was sharing dinner with a group of prospects as part of the Yankees’ “Captain’s Camp.”

Aaron Judge was seated at the table that evening in Tampa, Fla., seemingly hanging on Jeter’s every word.

That was the first interaction between Jeter and Judge, the latter preparing for his second full Minor League season. Judge arrived in the Majors in 2016, then found stardom as the American League’s Rookie of the Year in ’17. Now he’s both the AL’s Most Valuable Player and Jeter’s successor as Yankees captain.

“His size was the first thing that stands out, because you don’t see too many baseball players that size,” Jeter said. “Everyone at the camp was kind of quiet; they don’t say too much. But you could tell he was respectful. You can tell if people are paying attention. You could tell that he was listening, and I take all responsibility now for him being captain.”

To that, Jeter grinned brightly. He was joking, of course — Judge earned the honors of becoming the 16th captain in franchise history on his own accord, but Jeter was touched that managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner flew him from Miami to New York for the Yankee Stadium news conference. Willie Randolph, a Yankees co-captain from 1986-88, was also in attendance.

“Look, I’m a Yankees historian,” Jeter said. “So this is historic. People will be talking about it 20, 30, 40 years from now. There’s only a short list of Yankees captains. I thought it was important for me, because they thought it was important for me to be here.”

Jeter said that he believes Judge has done a “great job” of handling himself in the New York spotlight, and he sees the same winning-first mindset that Jeter adhered to during his two decades as the Yanks’ shortstop.

“You talk to his teammates, his coaches, his manager — that tells you all you need to know,” Jeter said.

“I think having two great New York sports teams is phenomenal,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s phenomenal for the city. It’s phenomenal for the rivalry, and I’m all for it. I was hoping we’d both be the last two standing [in the World Series], but it didn’t work out that way on either part. But hopefully it does this year.”

Added Steinbrenner: “Steve’s put together a great team. We have a great team, too. It doesn’t bother me. The timing is what it is. I’m focused on today. All I know is our Yankees fans are very excited today.”

Out of left field
If the season were to begin now, the Yankees’ left-field choices would be Oswaldo Cabrera, Estevan Florial and Aaron Hicks. It’s a group that general manager Brian Cashman is looking to upgrade, especially now that Andrew Benintendi has agreed to a five-year, $75 million deal with the White Sox.

“We loved having Andrew Benintendi, and it would have been nice to retain him,” Cashman said. “So we’re down a left-handed bat, which would fit right and left field. That would be something we would prefer. At the same time, you can’t have everything you want at all times. We’ll continue to patiently assess opportunities.”

The Yankees are believed to have spoken with the Pirates about a possible trade for Bryan Reynolds and with the Twins about Max Kepler. Michael Conforto, a free agent, is also thought to have drawn interest.

He said it
“I hugged and kissed my wife [Samantha]. My parents might have been sleeping, but I woke them up. I said, ‘I’ve got something you want to hear. I think it’d be good to wake up.’” — Judge, on the first thing he did after Steinbrenner agreed to the nine-year deal