Turns out, Aaron Judge didn’t want to go home. He wanted to stay put where he had already established his new home.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, who initially broke the news of Judge’s deal, Judge turned down contract offers of higher value because “he wanted to remain a Yankee.”
It would have to be assumed that the higher offer came from the Giants, long considered the Bombers’ top competitors to sign Judge, given Judge’s upbringing of rooting for the Giants from his hometown in northern California.
There was much speculation that Judge may have soured on playing in New York, the only place he has known since he was drafted in 2013, because of Brian Cashman’s decision to publicly disclose the team’s contract offer before Opening Day, and the boos he heard during his postseason struggles in October, but ultimately, Judge wanted to remain in pinstripes to the point where he reportedly took less money to do so.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Judge let his Yankee teammates know on Tuesday night, after MLB Twitter was in shambles over a then-retracted report that Judge was signing with the Giants, that he was in fact staying put in the Bronx.
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