We know what the Yankees offered Aaron Judge. But what was he asking for?
A lot, according to The New York Post’s Jon Heyman.
From The Post:
Judge, according to multiple sources, countered the Yankees offer at nine or 10 years at $36 million a year for up to $360 million (though someone close to Judge denied that).
Mike Trout’s record extension was for 10 years at $36 million for $360 million.
Heyman also reports the Yankees were willing to give Judge the $21 million salary in 2022 he filed for in arbitration (the Yankees filed at $17 million) and to put opt-out windows in the contract (which would maximize Judge’s earning potential in later years).
If you do all the math, the Yankees and Judge figured to have been facing a negotiation gap of around $100 million when talks shut down. And that’s a conservative estimate.
Yikes.
This is why, as painful as it may sound, the Yankees likely need to start working to trade Judge. He’s not worth Trout money to begin with. And then you throw in he’s about to turn 30 and he’s been injury-prone. And if the Yankees are going to continue to be as strategically frugal as they have been, it’s hard to imagine Hal Steinbrenner is going to write some insane check in December because someone else makes a wild offer.
The Yankees’ offer to Judge — $30.5 million a year for seven years starting in 2023 — was fair. And they obviously would have bumped it up and made a deal happen if they were even remotely close to what Judge was asking. But they clearly weren’t, and they likely won’t ever get there. So general manager Brian Cashman might as well get something for him before he walks for nothing.
