BOSTON — If Yankees players get their way, the team could add a new jersey to its classic rotation.
According to The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty, players have been urging the team’s higher-ups to approve an alternate jersey for in-game use for the first time in franchise history. Players recommended wearing a top that already exists for occasional road games: the club’s navy-blue batting practice jerseys, which have “New York” across the chest in gray letters and numbers, as well as a white trim and a sponsorship sleeve patch for Starr Insurance.
The Yankees only have two jerseys that they wear in games, their classic pinstripes for home games and their road grays. That’s traditionally what the club has always worn – there have been infrequent exceptions – but other teams have expanded their wardrobes over the years. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Yankees players.
“There’s a lot of tradition here,” Giancarlo Stanton said Wednesday at Fenway Park. “It’s the most iconic jersey there is in sports, pretty much. But that doesn’t mean that, every once in a while, you can’t change something up, especially on the road.
“Every team has an alternate uniform. We have the uniform. It’s not like we sat in a room and designed it ourselves. It’s here. It always has been, so it’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel, necessarily.”
Stanton added that Yankees players have talked about wanting an alternate jersey “a lot” for a few years, and that “a lot of people [on the team] would be okay” with wearing the navy top, which can always be found in players’ lockers on the road.
The motivation, he said, would be to mix things up every once in a while, and to keep up with what other teams are doing.
“It’s 2026,” Aaron Boone chimed in. “A lot of teams have a lot of different uniforms.”
Of course, critics of the idea would argue that the Yankees’ traditionalism is part of their identity. However, adherence to past norms has eroded over the years. Examples include the Starr Insurance and Nike logos that appear on the club’s current jerseys; last year’s decision to amend the team’s longstanding ban on facial hair; and the Yankees’ recent “concerted effort” to pump “incessant, annoying, droning noise” into Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees have also worn black uniforms with nicknames on the back – they are the only team without names on the back of both their regular home and road jerseys – for MLB’s Players Weekend. And in 2024, the Yankees tinkered with their gray jerseys, removing white outlining and sleeve trim for a more vintage look at the behest of Aaron Judge.
On Tuesday, Judge initially did not want to comment about the possibility of wearing the navy top in games, stating, “I got nothing for you until it happens.”
But when asked about potentially bucking tradition, the captain noted, “I’m all about tradition, but we got a [sponsorship] patch on our sleeves.”
Judge also said the navy tops wouldn’t be worn in the Bronx.
“I think we’ll always wear the pinstripes at home,” he said. “I don’t think that’ll change, but we changed our road jersey other years, so I guess if we wear the blues, we wear the blues on the road.”
It’s unclear when the Yankees could start implementing their navy tops, or if they even will. Boone said he didn’t know if anything was “imminent anyway,” and multiple sources told the Daily News that the navy jerseys were already made part of the team’s official uniform set and approved for in-game use by MLB prior to the 2025 season. The team just hasn’t worn the jerseys in regular season games.
Hal Steinbrenner would surely have to sign off on such a decision; Stanton wasn’t sure if this conversation has made it to the Yankees owner yet.
“It wouldn’t be the end of the world. It’s okay,” Stanton said, some sarcasm in his voice. “I’m sure if we were to do it and we play well, then it’s okay. If we don’t play well, it’s because of the jersey.
“We gotta play well regardless of what we’re wearing.”
While on the subject of fashion, Stanton said he’d also like to see the Yankees get a City Connect jersey. The Bombers are just one of two teams that don’t have one.
The Athletics are the other, and that’s because the former Oakland franchise is temporarily in Sacramento and eventually moving to Las Vegas.
“They don’t have a home,” Stanton joked.
But Stanton acknowledged that Nike isn’t batting 1.000 on their City Connect creations. While some have become fan favorites, plenty have been duds over the years.
“That one’s touchy because I don’t like a lot of the City Connects,” he said. “So we can’t do one that doesn’t hit, that’s for sure.”
For now, the navy tops are the safer, easier alternate that the Yankees seem to be craving. After all, they’ve already been manufactured and are in the possession of players.
“They’re always in our locker, but we don’t wear them, so why not?” Stanton asked. “What are they made for? To see if the hanger works?”
