The Aaron Judge free agency sweepstakes is reaching its boiling point between the New York Yankees and Judge’s childhood favorite San Francisco Giants.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Yankees have significantly upped their offer from Opening Day. Rumor has it New York’s offer is “in the neighborhood” of eight years and $300 million. That would give Judge an average annual value of $37.5 million a year, well above Mike Trout’s $35.5 million AAV.
Furthermore, Passan adds the Yankees could increase their offer if the Giants up the ante. Judge, who’s originally from Linden, California, met with the Giants in San Francisco before Thanksgiving. All signs have pointed to him wanting to shore up a new contract sooner rather than later.
And given this latest offer from New York, Aaron Judge might officially be the Yankees’ to lose. Consider their Opening Day offer of seven years, $213.5 million. That certainly wasn’t terrible for someone on the verge of turning 30 who could also hit close to that many home runs every year.
An American League-record 62 home runs and an MVP trophy later, here we are. If Passan’s report is accurate, Brian Cashman and his front office have gone above and beyond to show Judge how much the Yankees appreciate him. Remember, he turns 31 on April 26 and had some injury issues up until the last two years.
One way or another, Aaron Judge is going to be playing baseball somewhere next season. The Giants have made clear how much they want him and now so have the Yankees. If he accepts New York’s offer, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and it’s business as usual over in the Bronx.
Now is probably a good time to quickly remind everyone. The Yankees start their season at home on March 30 against, you guessed it, the Giants.
This means that if Judge signs with San Francisco, he felt comfortable turning down $37.5 million a year to be immediately booed by his old team’s fans.
Hopefully, eight years and $300 million (and maybe a little bit more) proves to be enough.
