We’ve been talking about Aaron Judge and his free agency for the majority of 2022. According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, we could finally hear of a decision from the American League MVP within the week.
It’s sounding like a toss-up between the Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
The expectation across baseball is that Judge will remain in the Bronx. New York is serious about retaining its homegrown slugger based on the recent offer that is rumored to be in front of the 30-year-old.
The Bombers are ready to pivot to a Plan B should Judge not choose them within the coming days, but they sure don’t want things to come to that.
Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds, and Morosi engaged in a very good discussion about Judge’s free agency, his immediate future, and his ultimate legacy. The good stuff starts happening around the five-minute mark:
Update: Aaron Judge’s free agent decision could come within the week. We discussed the latest today on #MLBNHotStove. @MLB pic.twitter.com/YZXzeloO5E
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 1, 2022
Getting paid is certainly something Judge and his camp wants. But at this point, the man is getting his bag in either scenario. We’ve heard the Giants don’t have any financial limitations and the Yankees are, well, the Yankees. What it comes down to now is what Judge really wants for the second half of his MLB career.
Does he want to be a career-long Yankee and the next captain while trying to end one of the franchise’s longest World Series droughts? Or, would he rather head home to San Francisco and start fresh with his childhood team? While the numbers and details of his contract are important, they’re probably less important now that he knows he’ll get what he wants financially in both situations.
Everywhere we’ve turned regarding free-agent contract predictions and projected landing spots, the majority of experts have pegged the Yankees for Judge. Most of it is because people don’t think New York will let him leave and will do everything possible to get a deal done.
From the reports coming out of the Bronx, that appears to be true. But, the Yankees can try all they want. It still takes two to tango. Based on what Morosi said above, there’s a very real chance Judge could be at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day next season… as a member of the Giants. That’ll be some kind of homecoming.
The outfielder visited the Giants last week and appeared to have a productive visit. Now it’s time for the AL single-season home run king to make a decision on what his future will look like.
Who knows, maybe we’ll find out what Judge wants to do before the Winter Meetings start on Sunday. That’d be one way to kick off festivities.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
