TAMPA — There is talking about the need to improve, and then there is putting in the work to make sure that happens.

Aaron Judge did both, and the Yankees captain had a whole host of teammates follow him on the latter.

With a home in Tampa, Judge has easy access to the Yankees’ player development complex throughout the offseason. He had no shortage of company there, though, as a growing number of Yankees arrived early in January to work out there daily and try to put an abysmal 82-80 season further in the rearview mirror.

“A lot of guys were embarrassed,” Judge said Tuesday after the first full-squad workout of spring training. “A lot of guys didn’t have the season they wanted. Kind of a wake-up call. I think just collectively as a group, we all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘This can’t happen again.’

“We had a lot of talks about a lot of us getting down here early and trying to put the work in. … I think just having this group down here, just seeing the work they put in, it shows this is a dedicated group that wants to go out there and right the ship.”

The Yankees still have a ways to go to prove they can do that, but manager Aaron Boone has repeatedly referred to them building a better foundation this offseason to give themselves a better chance in 2024.

On the final day of the season last year, Judge had also called for the Yankees to make changes, particularly in how they feed analytics to players and which numbers they value most.

He seemed satisfied that changes were already in action, citing new coaches (led by hitting coach James Rowson, who Judge raved about at length, and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler) along with “different philosophies [and] communication that will go unseen to a lot, but it’s going to impact a lot of people from the top down.”

As for the numbers he wanted valued more, Judge said RBIs and runs have always mattered to him. He pointed to the acquisitions of Juan Soto (with whom he will form one of the game’s best one-two punches) and Alex Verdugo (“I’ve been preaching for years, ‘You gotta try to get that guy,’ ” he said) as a strong step in that direction.

“Getting a chance to talk with Hal [Steinbrenner], getting a chance to talk with [Brian Cashman] a lot, the time he spent with me and Gerrit [Cole], all of us talking about the different things we value and them explaining what they value, I think [we were] able to come to a clear answer,” Judge said.

Judge also left the door open for the Yankees to make another move, with a number of free agents still available, including pitchers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery.

“I hope so,” Judge said. “[The front office is] always working. That’s the thing that’s amazing about being here with the Yankees. They’re always trying to improve. They’re always trying to make moves, be it a trade or free agency.

“I definitely feel like there might be another move on the way, but you never know. We’ll see.”

In the meantime, Judge was ready to continue the work that he hoped would further bury the Yankees’ brutal 2023 season.

The reality is that had Judge not crashed into the right-field wall at Dodger Stadium and torn a ligament in his big right toe that cost him nearly two months, he might have been able to lift the Yankees into a postseason berth. Instead, the season began to crumble without him, giving the Yankees plenty of motivation to improve in all facets entering 2024.

“[Last season] still eats at me and still bites at me, but we gotta keep moving forward,” Judge said. “Just kind of setting those goals and having those goals as a daily reminder is kind of what pushes me to forget about that moving forward.”