Pujols left Cardinals, so Judge could leave Yankees

PHILADELPHIA — Harrison Bader has only played alongside Aaron Judge for a few weeks, but he would like to remain in the Yankees outfield with the AL home run king.

But Bader also spent the first half of this season with Albert Pujols in St. Louis, so he knows what happened when Pujols hit free agency in 2011 after 11 seasons with the Cardinals and signed with the Angels.

“Listen, if Albert Pujols … can [leave], anybody could [leave],’’ Bader said Tuesday.

Judge is coming off a historic season in which he broke Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League record by hitting 62 homers and is almost certain to win his first AL MVP award. When Pujols left St. Louis he had an even more illustrious résumé: He had won the National League MVP three times and had finished in the top five in voting in 10 different seasons.

Still, he left for a 10-year, $254 million deal from the Angels, and Pujols spent the next decade with them before he was released in May 2021 and signed with the Dodgers. He returned to the Cardinals prior to this season, which proved to be his last in the majors.

“It’s a business,’’ said Bader, who was traded from the Cardinals to the Yankees in exchange for left-hander Jordan Montgomery at the deadline in August. “I learned that very quickly this year. There are no hard feelings at all. It’s never personal. It’s about the game. Selfishly, I’d love to continue to be [Judge’s] teammate. He’s an incredible talent.”

Judge turned down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million extension on Opening Day, betting on himself in his final season of arbitration before hitting the open market for the first time.

He responded with a season for the ages and now is set to cash in, with the expectation of at least an eight-year deal worth more than $300 million.

“[Judge] earned everything that’s coming his way,’’ said Bader, who was at Citizens Bank Park, appearing on MLB Network before the Phillies’ 7-0 Game 3 win over the Astros. “I wish him the absolute best wherever he ends up. It’s a decision he and his family will make. … I’m looking forward to see how it shakes out.”

So is the rest of the baseball world.

The Yankees are still considered the favorites to retain Judge, the team’s first-round pick from 2013, who nearly won his first MVP in 2017, when he set a rookie record with 52 homers.

Following the loss in the 2021 wild-card game at Fenway Park, Judge said: “I want to be a Yankee for life. I want to wear the pinstripes for the rest of my career.’’

But he raised some eyebrows by referring to the Yankees in the past tense following their sweep by the Astros in the ALCS.

“Getting the chance to wear the pinstripes and play right field at Yankee Stadium, that’s an incredible honor that I definitely didn’t take for granted at any point,’’ Judge said last month. “Very few individuals get a chance to do that … and play in front of the fans for my whole six years here. It was a special time. I just kick myself for not bringing home that championship.”

Manager Aaron Boone said what many fans were thinking: “Hopefully we’ll see him for years to come in pinstripes. I don’t even want to think about the alternative right now. He means a lot to a lot of us in that room.”