One of the big questions surrounding Aaron Judge’s free agency is whether the superstar slugger is attached or drawn to the idea of being a lifelong Yankee with a potential future in Monument Park, and joining the rich history of pinstriped legends that came before him.
The Yankee tradition is certainly coveted by its fanbase and many past Yankee stars, but Gio doesn’t believe it matters much to the modern player, and doesn’t believe Judge is an exception.
“I don’t think that draw means as much as it used to mean,” Gio said. “The Yankees are always gonna be the Yankees, but if you’re not from this area…you haven’t won a World Series since you’ve been here, and he’s been booed by the fanbase, he’s had injuries, and living in this state isn’t always the easiest, he has to play in the Bronx, he has to get to the Bronx, that’s all real-life stuff.
“All the fans that live around here want to romanticize about Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, I just don’t think that Aaron Judge in 2022, that stuff is in his brain before the comfort of home, his parents, the most money, that kind of stuff.”
Boomer agrees that it will come down to the money, and that the Yankees can’t expect to offer less than the Giants or Dodgers and believe Judge will sign simply because being a Yankee means more.
“If the Giants put together a contract structure that makes sense for him to keep as much money as he possibly can, then I don’t see how he would say no to that,” Boomer said. “And I wouldn’t blame him.”
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