Start spreading the news Yankee fans, four-time all-star and one-time MVP Aaron Judge will return to the big apple! According to multiple sources, the star slugger has agreed to a nine-year $360 million contract with the New York Yankees early this Wednesday.
It was quite a shock for the baseball community, with most assuming that Judge was determined to take his talents somewhere else. Rumors were spreading this offseason that he was in discussion of a potential contract with the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.
The Padres offered Judge a $400 million 10-year contract, while the Giants offered a decreased value of $360 million.
Earlier this April, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman revealed that Judge rejected a contract extension with the team offering $30.5 million per year for seven years.
After the rejected offer, Judge showed his worth with a monumental season consisting of 62 homers, 131 RBIs, a .311 batting average, and a .686 slugging percentage.
The Yankees and Judge’s Unspoken Future
Because of Judge’s impressive resume and instant contract rejection, it started to look a little concerning for Yankees fans and more appealing to teams with a manageable cap space. During the beginning of the offseason, fans were still puzzled about Judge’s minuscule innuendos, which included videos of him when he visited San Francisco, and also when he dropped by Tampa Bay to see Tom Brady and the Buccaneers play.
But despite his impressive stats on the plate, his main purpose for the extension is to grant the Yankees another World Series title. During this year’s postseason, the Bronx Bombers fell short against the Houston Astros for the fourth time in postseason history.
Now that the Yankees have their prized jewel returning for nearly a decade, this brings up the question: “What will the next move be for the Yankees?” If they want a potential World Series appearance, who are they going to require in order to envision this into a possible reality? According to Judge, he stated, “I want to be in a winning culture and a team that’s committed to winning not only for the remainder of my playing career, but I want a legacy to kind of live on with any organization.” Safe to say Aaron Judge is determined to bring the number to 28 for the Yankees franchise. Will the Yankees organization and Brian Cashman prosper to give Judge the help he needs for a championship-contending team?
