Aaron Judge is a free agent, and the race to sign one of MLB’s biggest stars is officially on.
After putting together an all-time contract year, the free agent slugger is sure to have some big-spending teams hot after his services for the foreseeable future. Rumors indicate the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees could all be in the hunt to sign the slugger.
Of course, a signing won’t be cheap, nor will it be short: After Judge turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million contract on Opening Day this season, his new deal is expected to reset the market for outfielders and keep him very, very paid for the foreseeable future.
MORE: MLB free agency tracker — Latest news and notes on winter spending
Here’s the latest on Judge and the teams in the hunt:
Latest Aaron Judge news
MLB investigating Mets, Yankees communications around Judge
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 16
Given the Mets’ seeming unwillingness to chase after Judge, MLB is investigating whether or not “improper communications” surrounding Judge occurred between the Mets and the Yankees, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Given that the Mets have, reportedly, decided against bidding for Judge, the league is looking into whether or not those comments would damage Judge’s market; it would be in violation of the CBA.
Hal Steinbrenner says Yankees will ‘do what (they) can’ to keep Judge
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 15
Speaking at the owner’s meetings, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner says that the Yankees will “do what (they) can” to ensure that Aaron Judge is a Yankee in 2023 and beyond. Steinbrenner also says that he feels as though Judge wants to be a Yankee, which isn’t entirely unexpected.
It’s unclear what exactly Steinbrenner means, but it sounds like the Yankees won’t be outbid to keep the outfielder:
I have absolutely conveyed that I want him to be a Yankee for the rest of his life. There’s no doubt about that. He knows that. The rest is up to him and his family and where they want to go from here, but we’re gonna do what we can, I can assure you.
Giants pose biggest challenger to Yankees in Judge sweepstakes
Date: Thursday, Nov. 10
As was expected, Judge is going to test the free agency waters, and the Giants will be one of his pursuers.
Giants president Farhan Zaidi made it clear that the team is in on Judge and that the there’s “nobody that would be out of (their) financial capability,” meaning expect the Giants to be big players for Judge.
Giants head of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi, prominently linked to Aaron Judge: “I think from a financial standpoint there’s nobody that would be out of our capability. And then it’ll just be a question of whether there’s mutual interest.”
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) November 10, 2022
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