Time is running out for the New York Yankees and Aaron Judge to avoid a season full of uncertainty.
Judge is due for a new contract after this season, and like other star players in his spot, he's set an Opening Day deadline for extension talks.
The Yankees' opener against the Boston Red Sox was pushed back to Friday due to weather, meaning there's some extra time for the two sides to strike a deal. And on his "Big Time Baseball" podcast, Audacy MLB Insider Jon Heyman shared some insight into the Judge situation.
"I think they're going to get an extension," Heyman said. "He's got a smaller agent, I shouldn't pick on them, but let's face it, he's got one huge player. Is he going to gamble and not take the big money, and I think they will offer big money. Now, I heard early on that they were going to go north of (George) Springer, which is $150 million, they were going to go higher than that. Plus, he's got about $19 million this year, so as an extension that would get you close to $200 million, more like 180, something like that, as an early offer. But I think they'll go up from there and I think they will probably beat the $200 million mark. It depends on how much over 200 they go I think.
"Throw out the (Carlos) Beltran thing for now and just disregard it. He has a smaller agent, he's a guy who wants to be there I think, he's thrived there, he's got the whole court out in right field with all those justices or judges or whatever. I think they're going to get it done, but there's no guarantees. … I just kind of feel that while they toed the line with (Robinson) Cano and have not spent crazy, I think they know this is a special guy and he works in New York. I kind of think that it gets done – I may be proven wrong – in a couple days because I think they'll announce it Opening Day because that's the deadline he has set. I feel like it's more likely than not that they get it done, but no guarantees."
Springer is set to begin Year 2 of a six-year, $150 million deal signed with the Toronto Blue Jays last offseason. Judge is better than Springer in most offensive categories, and Springer's defense isn't leaps and bounds better than Judge's -- in fact it's Judge who has a higher career defensive WAR.
Whether that's enough to get the Yankees to offer over $200 million and potentially push a deal through remains to be seen.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
