Aaron Judge was at it again Thursday night, clubbing his major-league-leading 34th homer in a loss to Houston. He got all of it too, sending Brandon Bielak’s ninth-inning offering to the train tracks in left field, traveling an estimated 410 feet.
With Judge rounding into MVP form, pressure is mounting in the Bronx with the Yankees at risk of losing their prized slugger. Judge, for his part, seems confident in his worth, content to test free agency in the absence of a godfather offer that would keep him in pinstripes for years to come.
Unlike the ambitious, borderline insulting offer the Nationals dropped on Juan Soto’s doorstep earlier this week (fueling an entire news cycle while sparking debate over whether teams are obligated to charter private flights for players headed to the All-Star Game), New York’s seven-year, $213.5-million proposal was seen as fair considering Judge’s age (he turned 30 in April) and his well-documented injury woes, missing a combined 142 games between 2018-20. While the Bombers have reportedly upped their offer by $2 million a year, the sides remain far apart, with little progress to report over the All-Star break.
“The Yankees are willing to bump their offer of $30.5-million salary, perhaps to $32.5 million or so,” said Audacy insider Jon Heyman, detailing the Yankees’ negotiations with Judge in a story for the New York Post. “But there’s no reason to believe Judge is lowering his ask from $36 million to something closer to $32.5—not shocking because he’s done everything he can to prove his original contention (that he should be valued like Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole) and no reason to believe they are any closer.”
Heyman cites the team’s history, the marketing potential presented by New York City and a favorable hitter’s park as reasons Judge would entertain staying, though as we’ve seen with Freddie Freeman, who made the difficult choice to leave Atlanta for his hometown Dodgers (a decision he’s already regretting), dozens of factors go into free agency with loyalty usually near the bottom of the list. More often than not, it comes down to being wanted and Judge doesn’t seem to be feeling the love right now, or at least not enough to consider signing a long-term deal in New York.
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