Charting Yankees Trio's Path To 500 HRs

The New York Yankees are no strangers to the 500 home-run club. In fact, the Yankees have the charter member — Babe Ruth.

Ruth hit 714 home runs for his career and was the all-time leader until Henry Aaron overtook him (and then Barry Bonds overtook Aaron to lead all hitters with 762 home runs).

But there are other Yankees in the club. Alex Rodriguez finished his career with the Yankees and hit 696 home runs. Mickey Mantle was with the Yankees his entire career and hit 536 home runs.

The next question is whether any current Yankees will join them one day?

MLB.com attempted to answer that question by analyzing 13 players that it believes have a chance at reaching that hallowed number, one that only 28 players have reached. This being the Bronx Bombers, there are three potential hitters with a shot.

First is Giancarlo Stanton, the 34-year-old slugger who is closest with 402 home runs. Lately, he hasn’t exactly been the Stanton the Yankees traded for before the 2018 season. In 2019 and 2020 injuries limited him to 41 games and seven home runs. Last season he played in just 101 games and hit 24 home runs.

But Stanton’s career with the Marlins helps him here. He already has a great head start and MLB.com believes he’ll reach the mark. If he meets his 162-game average (42 home runs) he could reach the mark in 2026. Even at the mark he hit in 2023, he could do it in four seasons.

Next is Aaron Judge, who has 257 home runs in his career and in 2022 he hit 62 home runs to break Roger Maris’ single-season AL record. Judge is entering his age 32 season and when he’s healthy he’s productive, with two seasons of more than 50 home runs and two more of more than 30 home runs.

His 162-game average is 50 home runs, which would allow him to cross 500 home runs in just five seasons. But can he really keep that up?

MLB.com believes Judge will reach 500 home runs, but he is fighting history. Eighty players hit between 220 and 270 homers through their age 31 season and only two, David Ortiz and Rafael Palmeiro, made it to 500.

The last is the newest Yankees slugger, Juan Soto, who has 160 home runs. He’s just six years into his career, has been relatively durable and sports a 162-game average of 33 home runs. Plus, he has age on his side. He’s entering his age 25 season. At his 162-game average Soto will need 10 years to get there.

MLB.com believes he can get there, especially if he retains his durability, stays in New York long-term and benefit from the protection that sluggers like Stanton and Judge can provide.

If so, then Ruth, A-Rod and Mantle will have company.