Aaron Judge was nervous and frustrated by the Yankees’ slow start to the season.

The least we can say is that the start of the offseason has been fairly quiet for the New York Yankees. So much so that it made captain Aaron Judge nervous.

It was brutal. I saw guys like Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt and thought to myself, “Let's sign these guys right now, then we'll start adding more pieces later. ‘ I saw other teams in the league getting better. They were making trades, signing big players, and we just sat there for a while, making small moves.”

“I was like, we're the New York Yankees. Let's go out there and get the right people, get the right pieces to finish this thing off.” Aaron Judge says it was frustrating not seeing the Yankees make any big moves early in the offseason.

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At that point, New York had made a qualifying offer of $22 million to outfielder Trent Grisham, which he accepted on November 18.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner then angered the team's fan base by telling reporters that he would like to spend less money on payroll, adding that it was “not fair or accurate” to assume that the team had made a profit this season.

Nothing to reassure the Judge.

At first, it was pretty hard to watch. I was like, ‘Man, we're the New York Yankees, let's go out there and find the right people, find the right pieces to finish the job.'” It then took another two months before Bellinger signed a $162.5 million contract to return to the Bronx. And it took the captain to stand up and make his point of view known to the Bombers' front office.

I expressed my opinion about a few guys. Bellinger is one of those who brings a dynamic to this team that has been missing for several years, so I'm so happy he's back. We have a special group of players here. We have a good core, a good young core. It was frustrating, but I think we're exactly where we need to be.

Ultimately, the Yankees spent nearly $200 million this winter on free agents, all from within the organization, in addition to making a few acquisitions on the trade market to strengthen the bullpen and starting rotation.

Now it's time to perform on the field.

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