Red Sox’s Alex Cora: Aaron Judge’s future is going to be ‘bright and very green’

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge has belted 60 homers and is one away from tying Roger Maris for the Yankees’ single-season record.

The focus has centered on Judge’s home run pursuit but the Yankees are also chasing a championship. They clinched a postseason spot here Thursday.

Then there’s also Judge’s pending free agent this coming offseason. There’s no shortage of storylines here in New York.

“I think he’s a great ambassador of the game,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said about Judge before Friday’s game. “Obviously, they (the Yankees) have other things to do this season. They have their goals and all that. But I think obviously the future is going to be bright and very green.”

Judge is going to get paid big money this offseason after he turned down a seven-year, $213.5-million offer on Opening Day.

“I’ve seen a lot of things this year with him that’s a lot different from previous years,” Cora said. “There’s a lot of conversations in between innings with other players on the field. He’s doing that a lot. And just details like that. It seems like he’s enjoying this atmosphere more than ever. He’s having a lot of fun out there. Of course. If I had 60 homers, I’d be having fun, too.”

Cora pointed out how Judge joked with Gleyber Torres when the Yankees used Torres as a fourth outfielder down the right field line Thursday.

“He’s making fun of him and the people are going nuts,” Cora said. “I think he has embraced the season since day one. It’s been really good. That’s the way I see it. It seems like he’s a good kid. I’ve never had the chance to talk to him. Just from afar, it seems like he’s a very respectful kid that understands what it takes to play on this stage. It’s not easy. And he goes out there, he runs hard all the time to first, he plays good defense and he hits homers.”

Judge was asked earlier this month if he would consider signing with Boston in the offseason.

“Oooh. We’ll talk about that at the end of the year,” he said.