"I'll stick with Aaron Judge" - Ex-Royals star justifies snubbing Shohei Ohtani as his first pick to build an MLB team around

2015 World Series champion Eric Hosmer recently picked Aaron Judge over Shohei Ohtani as his pick number one pick to build an MLB team around. Hosmer justified his selection despite Ohtani being the obvious answer for many due to the Japanese star's dual threat.

The 2016 All-Star was a recent guest on Monday's episode of the "Casa De Klub" podcast, where the former pro provided reasons why he would pick Judge over Ohtani.

"The easy answer would be Shohei [Ohtani], right, just because he does both and he's unbelievable. But I'll stick right there with [Aaron] Judge, man, just because Judge, like we said, on and off the field." [42:42 mark]

"Off the field, he goes about it the right way. Like, I would want all my guys to look up to that guy in the clubhouse and on the field as well," Hosmer said.

Due to his connection with the Royals, Bobby Witt Jr. was Hosmer's obvious answer. However, Corey Kluber, the co-host of the podcast, told Hosmer to remove Witt Jr. from the equation, after which he picked Aaron Judge.

Judge has always commanded respect from the MLB community. Former Marlins President David Samson credited the Yankees captain for Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s impressive performances after the latter arrived from Miami. Samson was a vocal critic of Chisholm Jr. in the Yankees uniform but later changed his opinion.

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Hosmer sees Aaron Judge as a role model for the young generation

Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper have been among the faces of the MLB in the USA for some time. Harper is a two-time NL MVP and Judge will likely achieve the same feat by winning the AL MVP in the coming days. However, the duo has not yet achieved ultimate glory in MLB.

Nevertheless, Hosmer sees Harper and Judge, with Bobby Witt Jr. as ideal role models for the young generations. The former Royals first baseman said as much on the podcast. [35:54 mark]

"One thing in baseball that I appreciate right now is our superstars, man, like Judge, Harper, Bobby Witt Jr. out there in Kansas City. They're just great fu**ing dudes, man, and guys that you can trust having them be our superstars because you know they're going to do things the right way," said Hosmer.

The former Royal first baseman even said he wanted his two-year-old son to look up to the three MLB superstars. Kluber agreed with Hosmer, praising the trio as worthy of being looked up to.