The Yankees have a decision to make regarding the face of their franchise, as Aaron Judge is entering his final season of arbitration before hitting free agency after next season. Of course, the Yanks can avoid that by locking up the slugging outfielder to an extension before next winter.
If it were up to Judge, he would plant himself where his professional baseball roots began, and remain a Yankee for life.
“That would be a wish of mine, to finish my career as a Yankee, but you never know what the cards hold,” Judge said in an interview with Fanatics Live. “But if it was up to me, I’d be a Yankee for the next 10 years, for sure.”
Judge, who was already 24 years old when he made his big-league debut back in 2016, will turn 30 years old next season, which could complicate contract talks, especially taking his injury history into account. But Judge had no health issues in 2021, playing in 148 games, his most since playing in 155 in his historic rookie season. He was also the most valuable Yankee overall, hitting 39 home runs, again his most since 2017, while batting a career-high .287 with a .916 OPS. Over his six-year career in pinstripes, he holds a .276 average with a .940 OPS, and has been a fan-favorite since bursting onto the scene as the face of New York’s rebuild.
Given Judge’s accomplishments and his standing with the fanbase, the Yankees will be under immense pressure to sign Judge long-term. If that is the team’s desire, it sounds like it won’t be hard to get Judge on board.
“To be honest, there’s no better place to play,” Judge said. “No other place I’d really ever want to play. Just based on how the fans have embraced me, how they’ve brought me in and treated me as one of their own, it’s incredible.”
“Getting a chance to play in Yankee Stadium every night, being basically sold out…it’s a dream come true.”
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