The Yankees are obviously a contender to re-sign Aaron Judge. And it is pretty clear the Giants plan to make a serious run at the Northern California native. But is there anyone else?
That is the great intrigue of Judge’s free agency. Everyone agrees the Giants and Yankees are in the arena. No one really knows what exactly to make of the Dodgers, Mets and other potentially-interested clubs.
AARON JUDGE FREE AGENCY TRACKER: The latest news, rumors
With the MLB general manager meeting in the books, The Post’s Joel Sherman reports this may be relatively straightforward. And a two-horse race.
From The Post:
There always could be a mystery team or teams. But this is about the Giants. The team Judge rooted for when growing up not far from San Francisco. The Giants have made the playoffs just once in the past six years, and they have bled nearly one million fans in that time — their attendance was 3.4 million in 2016 when they completed a period of making the playoffs four times in seven years (and winning three titles) and 2.5 million this year after going from a team-record 107 wins in 2021 to an 81-81 finish.
The upper parts of the Giants management team wants stars, wins and fans back. The Giants first went over three million fans in 2000 with Barry Bonds as their marketing centerpiece. They did not drop under that level until 2008 — the first year of Bonds’ retirement. So having the greatest power hitter in the sport has worked for the Giants previously. There are key members of the organization now — such as principal owner Charles Johnson and team president Larry Baer — who were key members of the organization then. And one rival executive at the GM Meetings said, “There will be members of the organization who tell [president of baseball operations] Farhan [Zaidi] to do whatever is necessary to get Judge.”
OK. But will the Yankees do whatever is necessary to retain Judge?
MORE ON ESNY:
• LeBron James’ Kyrie Irving tweets wilt under basic scrutiny
• Mets’ Plan B for outfield and offense shouldn’t include Michael Conforto
• If FIFA is OK with World Cup ‘village’, it better be OK with NJ Transit
• Should Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks job security be in question?
• If Giants, Jets make NFL playoffs, they will have earned it
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
