The free agency of Aaron Judge is the biggest news this offseason and speculations are rife over his next destination and contract size. His personal hairstylist, as reported by Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, claimed to know inside information about the power hitter joining the Giants for 2023.
Terry Cano has been Aaron Judge’s personal hairdresser for five years and is credited with maintaining “Judge’s signature fade each MLB offseason.” Letourneau asked him if he knew about the next destination of his most famous client. He replied:
“I’ve kind of got some inside information. I’ve kind of been hearing the same thing that everyone’s hoping: that he’s going to come home. I’m really hoping he can come home. If he does, I’m going to buy season tickets.”
Cano is the owner of the Majestic Barber Shop in Stockton, CA, which is around 95 miles east of San Francisco and 12 miles west of Linden, Aaron Judge’s hometown. The 30-year-old head barber at his shop, who frequently wears a Giants cap, has old’s Pictures of Judge hanging on his wall. He and Judge even text each other to remain in touch.
However, Cano is not the first person to say that Aaron Judge was going to play for the Giants in 2023. The player is the top contender for AL MVP and, according to Letourneau, he used to be a fan of ex-Giant shortstop Rich Aurilia during his youth. Long before the slugger broke the AL single-season record with 62 home runs this fall, he saw Barry Bonds making baseball history with the Giants.
This week, insiders like ESPN’s Jeff Passan, New York Post’s Jon Heyman, and Fox Sports’ Jake Mintz predicted that Aaron Judge is more likely to stay with the New York Yankees than sign a big contract with another team. Heyman raised eyebrows when he said that Judge is “not really a San Francisco guy” and that he would probably rather swing for the fences at Yankee Stadium than at Oracle Park during home games.
Meanwhile, Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote Thursday that the Los Angeles Dodgers “are a real threat to offer a deal that could convince Judge to leave the Yankees” and return to California instead of San Francisco. Letourneau also brought up another reason why Judge could turn down the Giants and still go “home” before Christmas.
“Since he burst onto the national scene as the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year, he has viewed Linden as a sort of haven: the one place where he can escape the pressures of stardom and just be Aaron again,” Letourneau wrote, “By playing only a 1½-hour drive — without traffic — from his parent’s house, he might disrupt his safe space. Linden could become a popular road-trip destination for Giants diehards.”
During the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, Giants president Farhan Zaidi told the press:
“We just think guys who have Bay Area ties are going to be more invested and engaged with the organization. That’s been a big part of what we’ve done over the last few years both in the draft and in free agency. That’s always something we look at.”
This makes Aaron Judge a clear target for the Giants, who reportedly can go to any extent to outbid the Yankees. Zaidi confirmed this indirectly when he told that the Giants can make a run at any high-priced free agent, including Aaron Judge.
“I think from a financial standpoint there’s nobody that would be out of our capability. And then it’ll just be a question of whether there’s mutual interest and how we put together the best possible team.”
What do you think about the news? Will Judge leave New York for San Francisco?
