Yesterday the rumor mill was going crazy with the Yankees and Aaron Judge. Word started coming out that Judge would be appearing today in San Diego during the Winter Meetings. Brian Cashman said he wasn’t aware Judge was coming to town and that he learned that through the media.
This morning, there have been reports stating that Judge is not guaranteed to show up at the Winter Meetings. Last night, he was in Tampa Bay taking in the Bucs Monday Night Football game. Alongside Judge was the likes of Nestor Cortes and Michael King.
Judge’s free agency is hanging over the Winter Meetings. Brian Cashman told the media yesterday that Hal Steinbrenner is putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to Judge. He also said that the Yankees have made multiple offers to Judge since negotiations started after the season ended.
I talked with a couple of people who are in San Diego covering the Winter Meetings who have uncovered a few potential nuggets regarding the Judge talks. Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week that Judge is likely to get a nine-year deal. Jeff Passan reported last week that Judge had an offer from the Yankees in the eight-year $300 million range.
Yankees are talking multiple offers
From talking to folks that are there, the Yankees have shown a willingness to move up the years of their offer to Judge. However, with every additional year, the AAV comes down slightly. Note, this is not confirmed by anyone in the organization or the reps of Judge.
This is coming from folks in the lobby in San Diego. After Trea Turner got eleven years from the Phillies, people started talking about ten years for Aaron Judge. Supposedly, the Yankees have floated a ten-year offer to Judge, however, the AAV dropped in that offer.
The Yankees 8-year $300 million offer carries an AAV of $37.5 million. New York is apparently willing to go to the $40 million AAV mark at eight years making the contract $320 million. If they move up to a nine-year deal, the most AAV they’d go is around $38 million. Ten-years would lower the AAV to around $36 million for a deal of 10 years at $360 million.
Again, this is coming from folks at the meetings and shouldn’t be taken for gospel since it’s not coming directly from either camp. However, it does line up with Cashman’s comments regarding multiple offers and it lines up with Judge not accepting a deal just yet.
My guess is the contract to get this done is nine years at $40 million AAV or $360 million total. Folks on MLB Network are adamant that the Giants will ultimately offer Judge the most money. I tend to agree, but I think the Yankees offer will be close.
It will ultimately come down to what Judge wants. I don’t think the dollar gap will be wide enough to say he left strictly for the money. It’ll be close. Just a matter of whether Judge wants to be a life-long Yankee or if he wants to go play for his childhood team: The San Francisco Giants.