The Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman believe they addressed some needs in Sunday night’s trade with the Twins, but there is still work to do in terms of locking up their established core stars.
The big question mark lies above the 6-foot-7 frame of Aaron Judge, who would become a free agent at the end of this season if he doesn’t agree to an extension with New York. But Cashman says no such talks have happened of yet.
“We’re going to have to engage him to get a contract," Cashman told reporters on Monday. “When that happens, I'm not going to say or predict. But we’re on the clock, obviously, between now and his free agency. And if nothing gets done prior to free agency… we've signed guys back as free agents.”
Judge appeared on CC Sabathia’s R2C2 podcast during the lockout and left the door open for continuing his career elsewhere, which would be a shocking development given his rise to fame in the Bronx, where he has become the face of the franchise since his historic rookie season. Judge also indicated that if a contract isn’t agreed upon by Opening Day, he could table any potential negotiations in order to focus on the season ahead.
“Generally you hear they'd prefer to get it done prior to season, but that's what agents are for at the same time,” Cashman said. “A lot of times you can have conversations and the player is not a part of it until the very end.
“Ultimately, we have to make an overture, which we will do at some point and then we have to factor in their shared information and see if there's an opportunity exists now or we have to wait for later when there’s more competition. So I guess stay tuned.”
Judge is a unique case since he will already be 30 years old by the time he reaches free agency, but he temporarily quieted injury concerns last season and put together another All-Star campaign, hitting 39 home runs while continuing to provide strong defense in the outfield, even in center when it was needed. But if an extension isn’t agreed upon by Opening Day, there will likely be a lot of tension among the fanbase, wondering if they are watching their star’s final season in pinstripes.
“We're the only team that can talk to him now and at some point those conversations will happen and we’ll try to keep it as private as we can,” Judge said. “But our intent and our hope would be that we’d like to have back if we can. But like anything else, just like trades and free agency stuff, you have to be on the same page. But saying we'd like to have him and actually being able to complete something is a big difference. But we're happy he's a Yankee and it would be great if we could make him a Yankee longer than just this year.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
