The verdict is apparently in: the Yankees and Aaron Judge have settled on a one-year deal for the slugger worth $19 million plus incentives, avoiding the arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon.
That base figure is the midpoint between the $17 million the Yankees offered initially and the $21 million Judge filed for, and ESPN’s Buster Olney reported earlier Friday that Judge turned down an offer of $19 million straight up from the Yankees.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the incentives are $250K bonuses for winning AL MVP and/or World Series MVP, so perhaps that's what sealed the deal, given the monster season Judge is having.
Technically, even with the hearing scheduled for Friday, 70 games into the Yankees’ season, neither Judge nor the team could present any 2022 performance in the arbitration proceedings, which are usually held in February but were delayed because of the lockout and shortened spring training this year.
On the whole that was probably a good thing for the Yankees, who have watched their slugger post a .304/.379/.658 slash line with an MLB-high 27 homers, 53 RBI, and a league-leading 53 runs scored. The latest of his RBI and 79 hits came on the final pitch of Thursday’s game, his walk-off single propelling the Yankees to their 15th straight home win.
Because of the unique timeline this year, Judge (and any other player awaiting an arbitration hearing) were being paid a prorated salary based on the team’s filing. That was $17 million in Judge’s case, and now, the Yankees will be obligated to pay him back pay to make whole on that $19 million, meaning they owe him a little less than $1 million "extra."
The Yankees’ payroll for luxury tax calculation purposes will also be re-adjusted with Judge’s final salary. Per Baseball Prospectus, the Yankees’ CBT payroll, was $259.3 million with Judge slotted in at the midpoint of $19 million, about midway between the second and third tiers ($250 and $270 million), so the incentives will be something to watch.
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