Trailing 1-0 in the sixth inning on Tuesday night, Aaron Judge blasted a no-doubt home run off of Alek Manoah, who had previously been dominating the red-hot Yankee lineup, to tie the game and bring the offense to life in an eventual 9-1 victory.
When Judge’s titanic blast landed, a Blue Jays fan caught the ball, and quickly turned to a young fan wearing a Yankee cap and a Judge shirt, who immediately burst into tears of gratitude as he received the ball in a viral video that has already eclipsed one million views.
The home run by Judge tied him for the league lead, while the response showed his worldwide impact on the sport. With Judge sizzling at the plate and continuing to be one of the faces of baseball, is the Yankee slugger already proving he was right by turning down the team’s contract extension offer?
Talks of a new contract have ceased since Opening Day arrived. Before the season began, Brian Cashman sat behind a microphone and abruptly laid out the details of Judge’s contract offer: a seven-year deal at $30.5 million per year, in addition to paying him $17 million this season, bringing the total to $230.5 million over the next eight seasons.
Judge reportedly wanted something in the realm of $36 million per year, which would be just above what Mike Trout earns annually on his record $426.5 million extension.
Many wondered how Judge, who just turned 30 and carries years of injury history with him, could turn down such a deal considering he has been vocal about his desire to be a Yankee for life. Others pointed out how a $30.5 million AAV would pay Judge less per year than Corey Seager, who has his own injury concerns before signing a massive deal with the Rangers this past offseason, Anthony Rendon, and Carlos Correa, another free-agent signing from this past offseason, who Judge outperformed in nearly every meaningful offensive category last season.
Now, it’s looking like, at least out of the gate, that Judge betting on himself could pay off for him. He has a share of or sole possession of the league lead in home runs, runs scored, and total bases, while batting .303 with a ridiculous 201 OPS+, a full 30 points higher than his historic rookie season in 2017. Not to mention he has played multiple games in center field, and is again staying healthy like he did last season. With the Yankees now fully established within director of player health Eric Cressey’s program, Judge has been able to stay on the field and, in, turn, show his worth.
Since his rookie year, Judge is among the most valuable players in baseball when healthy, and is still fifth in the league in homers since 2017 despite missing significant time. But he is on a stretch of staying healthy, and if that continues, his final numbers in 2021 will likely reflect someone who is set to make more than $30.5 million per year.
Judge logged 633 plate appearances last season, and currently has 98, meaning if he reached last year’s total (when he played in 148 games), he would be on pace to finish the year with 58 home runs and 122 RBI. That doesn’t even factor in his value off the stat sheet, like we saw on Tuesday night when a die-hard Judge fan in Toronto was brought to tears by being given his home run ball. Judge has been marketed as one of the faces of baseball since his rookie year. There is a section of the right field seats at Yankee Stadium designated to honor him.
Judge puts baseballs, and fans, in the seats, and if he continues on this pace, he will be doing it for a team, in New York or elsewhere, for more than $30.5 million per season, regardless of his age.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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