Former New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is doing everything in his power to drive up the price tag for his services. The hope was that he would land a contract north of $40 million per season, but he may have to sacrifice a bit to leave some salary space for others and extend the years beyond his prime.
Owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman have presented an eight-year, $300 million deal to retain Judge in right field. That would pay them $37.5 million per season, one of the biggest contracts in the history of the game.
However, while the Yankees remain confident in their chances, the San Francisco Giants are reportedly making a strong push having just met with him this past weekend. According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, not only could Judge’s decision come within the week, but apparently the decision between the Yankees and Giants is 50/50 instead of the previously reported 70/30 probability.
If that is the case, the Yankees undoubtedly have their work cut out for them. They may end up swindling a few extra million out of the Yankees to get the deal done, using the Giants as leverage on the West Coast. However, there has to be a line that Cashman can’t cross financially, especially since the team has already locked Giancarlo Stanton and Gerrit Cole in on big contracts.
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The Yankees need to assure Aaron Judge they aren’t done spending:
Judge wants to go to a team that will continue spending this off-season to build a World Series-caliber roster, and the Yankees had far too many holes this past season to push past the Houston Astros.
Nonetheless, if management is keen on being aggressive post Judge’s extension, retaining him should be simple, especially with only one serious bidder on the market.