Aaron Judge almost went to the Giants, but he signed a 9-year, $360 million deal with the New York Yankees instead. Even though the Giants made a high-pitched attempt, the AL MVP preferred to remain with the Yankees. The failure to have him as their prized free-agency signing continues to pinch both players and the team brass in San Francisco.
During the Giants’ annual fan fest on Saturday, pitcher Logan Webb laid bare this feeling, which is widespread in San Francisco. He was asked what he thought about Aaron Judge choosing to stay with the Yankees instead of going to the Giants. Webb was part of the group that tried to move Aaron Judge to Oracle Park. He said that the group was “butt-hurt” by Judge’s decision.
Logan Webb was one of the Giants players who met with Aaron Judge earlier this offseason to try to get him to join his team. After meeting with Aaron Judge at Oracle Park in late November, Webb texted Joc Pederson, who he called “my inside source for everything,” for a week to find out more about where the reigning American League MVP would like to play the next season.
Webb thought Aaron Judge was going to San Francisco for a short time after a false report surfaced.
MLB insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post “jumped the gun” to announce Aaron Judge was going to the Giants. As rumors started to spread about the Giants’ chances of signing Aaron Judge, Heyman sent out a tweet in an attempt to get the biggest scoop of the offseason. He not only mistakenly tweeted the wrong info but also misspelled Aaron Judge’s name, writing “Arson Judge” instead in a penchant to break the news.
Seven minutes later, the tweet was deleted, which made Webb say, “Not cool, man.”
It’s not surprising that the people who worked hard to get Aaron Judge to join them were hurt when he turned them down. The slugger ended up re-signing with the Yankees. However, Webb said he was sure that the power hitter was serious in his desire to play for the Giants.
“I personally thought we had a pretty good shot, but that’s how things go,” Webb told. “I think we had an outside chance to start with. I get that. … But there were some times during the offseason where I really did think we were going to get him. It was tough, for sure. I think all of us in that meeting were butthurt a little bit because we all thought we did a pretty good job.”
The Giants had bad luck with Aaron Judge and thereafter. To recover from that debacle, the Giants agreed to acquire Carlos Correa with a huge deal — $350 million over 13 years. However, concerns over Correa’s physical fitness led the deal to get grounded. After a similar issue with the Mets, Correa signed a 6-year, $200 million deal to go back to the Minnesota Twins.
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