Did Carlos Beltran just spoil news of an Aaron Judge contract extension?
On Monday, Beltran made his debut in the YES Network broadcast booth as part of the team covering Yankees-Phillies, and had this to say about Judge during one of the slugger’s at-bats early in the game:
“Aaron Judge, just a guy who has so much power, and I’m just glad to see him being able to create this new contract with the New York Yankees and extend his stay here in New York. He’s an incredible guy, a leader in the clubhouse. He’s a guy that plays the game hard, and I bet the message has to be like, from Judge, the Yankees are willing to commit like that for so long. And at the same time, you know, they want to build around him. They understand he’s a leader, so I’m glad to see Aaron Judge increasing his stay here with the New York Yankees.”
There’s only one problem: while it’s known Judge and the Yankees were working on an extension, and the team has apparently made an offer to coincide with Judge’s deadline of wanting to complete talks before Opening Day, there’s no actual news that he has agreed to any terms.
Beltran later clarified that he HOPES Judge signs an extension, but the above quote made it seem like Beltran had much more concrete information.
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It’s been an interesting 24 hours of being intertwined for the two outfielders. Transcripts were released Sunday of Beltran discussing the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal in an episode of CenterStage that premiered on YES just before Monday’s spring game, and Judge told the media later that afternoon that he didn’t feel Beltran owed the current Yankees any explanation, or even a discussion on it.
Judge is in his final arbitration year, and his salary for 2022 isn’t even finalized, as he and the Yankees are scheduled for a hearing after he filed for $21 million and the Yankees countered at $17 million – either figure a significant raise from the $10.75 million he made in 2021.
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