By Ronald Blum and Jay Cohen
San Diego: Aaron Judge has issued his ruling: Court remains in session in the Bronx.
Judge is staying with the New York Yankees on a nine-year $360 million ($535m) contract, according to a person familiar with baseball’s biggest free agent deal ever.
New York general manager Brian Cashman declined to confirm the agreement. But he said he was “optimistic that we’re in a good place,” and he credited Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner for the team’s position while making reference to Hal’s late father, George.
“I’ve been here a long time,” said Cashman, who has been the Yankees’ GM since 1998, “and I know how George Steinbrenner did business and how he went about doing business, in recruiting free agents and retaining free agents, and he was intimately involved. And I saw a lot of that in this process, too.”
Cashman said he didn’t get any sleep Tuesday night. He texted with Judge, and Hal Steinbrenner and manager Aaron Boone spoke with the slugger on the phone.
“I wanted to talk to him and make sure he knew, certainly, how I felt about him, but how we felt about him, too,” Boone said.
Aaron Judge will spend another nine seasons at Yankee Stadium after signing an eye-popping contract.Credit:AP
Judge, who hit an American League-record 62 homers last season, will earn $40 million per year, the highest average annual payout for a position player. The contract trails only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers for biggest in baseball history. Trout and Betts were already under contract when they signed those deals.
The Yankees made a long-term offer to Judge before last season that was worth $213.5 million ($A317m) over seven years from 2023-29. But the outfielder turned it down in the hours before opening day in April. The 201cm Judge bet on himself — and won.
Judge surpassed Roger Maris’ AL home run mark while powering New York to an AL East title. He also tied for the major league lead with 131 RBIs and just missed a Triple Crown with a .311 batting average.
New York were swept by Houston in the AL Championship Series, but Judge became the first AL MVP for the Yankees since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.
Judge speaks with Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady in Tampa this week.Credit:Getty
“He’s an amazing player and an amazing person that certainly has the respect of everyone in that room,” Boone said, “and guys look to him, look up to him.”
By rejecting the Yankees’ preseason offer, Judge gained $146.5 million and an extra two guaranteed seasons. The Northern California native also visited with the San Francisco Giants last month, and there likely were more teams monitoring the market for the slugger who turns 31 in April.
There was an erroneous Twitter report Tuesday that had Judge nearing a deal with the Giants, and Boone said it was “a long, rough day in a lot of ways.”
“Kind of that pit in my stomach all day,” Boone said at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego.
Judge helped New York to the AL East title in the most recent MLB season.Credit:AP
Judge’s decision will have a domino effect on several teams and free agents. His status held up at least some of New York’s off-season plans — given the size of the contract — but Cashman made it clear his team would wait patiently while Judge contemplated his options.
In the end, that approach worked.
“The hope is that (Hal Steinbrenner) is the Mariano Rivera of these negotiations and was able to close something out, put us in a great position,” Cashman said. “But I can’t officially say that’s happened just yet.”
With his new long-term deal, Judge could be in line to become New York’s first captain since Derek Jeter retired after the 2014 season. But Cashman and Boone each said that was a conversation for another day.
AP
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