Aaron Judge is the king of home runs in the American League, and the San Francisco Giants are keen to have him next season.
According to the contract terms, Aaron Judge will be a free agent once the World Series is over. However, it took an unofficial effect and the tall outfielder entered free agency after the Yankees were knocked out of the playoffs over the weekend.
Long-time Yankees writer Randy Miller of NJ.com says citing an unnamed source that “Aaron Judge is at the top of the Giants list and they won’t be underbid and if they miss out, it won’t be because of money.”
The writer claimed to have met that the source, who had access to the Giants’ top brass and knew “what the Giants are thinking.” Miller said that the source made a number of predictions, including that “the Giants are confident that they can sign Aaron Judge and they are not going to stop with Judge. They have so much money freed up and will sign two more high-value free agents.”
Aaron Judge would be the most talented player on the team since Barry Bonds, and he is from the Bay Area. He grew up in Linden, California, where his parents still live, and always cheered for the Giants. He would make the average last season seem like a long time ago and a worthwhile purgatory.
But the Giants won’t be the only team trying to sign the 30-year-old superstar who hit 62 home runs and drove 131 runs while having an OPS of 1.111 in 2022.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are also interested in Aaron Judge. According to MLB.com, the team is willing to allow the slugger to take his favorite outfield position that is currently occupied by Mookie Betts, who has five Golden Gloves if it means getting Judge.
The New York Yankees don’t want their unofficial captain to leave, but their situation is more complicated. Miller strongly suggested that reporters took the time to say goodbye to Aaron Judge after Yankees’ ALCS humiliation. Before the season started, Brian Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees, made the strange decision to tell the public how much Aaron Judge turned down in a contract extension. This was not a good move.
But after Aaron Judge’s great season, Cashman said, “There’s a pot of gold there,” and it will be “bigger” than the seven years and $213 million that was first offered.
“You won’t find many baseball fans who think the sport’s most iconic team would let someone like Judge go,” reports NBC Sports Bay Area.
Free agents cannot sign with a new club until five days after the World Series concludes, which may be between November 1 and November 5.
According to Miller’s source, the Giants “need a draw with the Dodgers and Padres in their division spending big money on big names and they also are feeling the pressure with the Warriors’ basketball team doing so well and spending big in the same market.”
Do you think the Yankees will let Aaron Judge go?
