While the New York Yankees are focused on adding a big-name shortstop this off-season, they have to consider the contract extension Aaron Judge will garner in the near future.
Judge will become a free agent in 2023, so he has just one year left of team control before he can sign elsewhere. That likely means general manager Brian Cashman and Judge’s representatives will look to strike a huge deal before he hits free agency.
The star slugger has indicated he prefers to stay with the Yankees for his entire career, but many players have said that in the past just to leave and find success elsewhere.
A deal for Judge will likely be close to $40 million per season on average, but let’s take a look at a prospective deal that would lock the Bombers into his services for at least five seasons.
New York Post’s Ken Davidoff proposed a monster deal, averaging out at $37.8 million per season over five years with an additional season and opt-out later on:
How about taking the five-year, $189 million package that my colleague Joel Sherman proposed back in October, adding another year and $38 million to it (six years and $227 million, a tribute to the iconic Marla Gibbs), adding vesting options for 2028 through 2030 (his age-36 through -38 seasons) based on collective plate appearances, and, to seal the deal, throwing in an opt-out after 2024?