How Yankees’ big three team up for a last-minute, Giant-killer push to win back Aaron Judge

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A nine-year, $360 million deal is the most lucrative free-agent deal in baseball history and Aaron Judge is the rightful player to have it. He ranks among the Yankees’ best power hitters since Babe Ruth and was New York’s top priority this offseason. During the MLB Winter Meetings, there were reports that Judge would choose between the Giants and the Yankees. But on Tuesday night, the San Diego Padres jumped into the fray and offered the slugger a huge $400 million deal for 10 years.

From Babe Ruth to Joe DiMaggio to Reggie Jackson to Derek Jeter, the Yankees have a long history of being tough in contract talks, even with their own stars. But Hal Steinbrenner may have never been under as much pressure to sign Aaron Judge because of how well he played and how popular he was with Yankees fans.

The Giants also gave Aaron Judge a nine-year, $360 million contract. This gave him the chance to move back to Northern California, just two hours from where he grew up in Linden, California, and become their biggest draw since Barry Bonds. The Padres entered the Judge sweepstakes late, so they sent a private plane to get him on Tuesday. They met with him for more than two hours at Petco Park, which is just a few blocks from the Grand Hyatt winter meeting venue.

Aaron Judge and his team met with Peter Seidler, who owns the Padres, their GM A.J. Preller, and manager Bob Melvin.

The Padres didn’t present Aaron Judge with a written offer, but they did tell him they would pay him $400 million over 10 years. When the Yankees made one last push, Judge and his agents left Petco Park and went back to their hotel.

The Yankees were still not sure what Aaron Judge wanted to do. In past negotiations, like the ones that happened in the spring, Judge’s side would just say “no” instead of making a counteroffer. The Yankees didn’t know what Aaron Judge would do while he was meeting with the Giants and Padres. Nervousness grew in the company to the point where the front office started putting together possible Plan Bs.

Losing Aaron Judge, who just had a magical season with 62 home runs and turned down an extension offer, would have been a big blow to the Yankees’ on-field pursuit of their first World Series since 2009 and to the team’s image of being the best.

Aaron Boone, the manager of the New York Yankees, thought that Aaron Judge was going to leave the team. So, on Tuesday night, he went back to his hotel room and called Judge one last time. The slugger was in San Diego, just a few blocks from where the baseball winter meetings were being held, but he wasn’t there to meet with the Yankees.

He called the power hitter around 11 o’clock at night and told Aaron Judge how he felt about him. The manager also emphasized on the significance of the slugger to New York. But when he completed the call, Boone was clueless about what Judge was going to do.

“All day, I felt sick to my stomach,” Boone told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday morning, “He didn’t tell me. All I knew is that the Padres were now involved, along with the Giants.

Hal Steinbrenner, who was in Italy at the time, also knew that losing Aaron Judge would cost the Yankees money. Judge is by far the Yankees’ biggest draw, and he sells more merchandise than anyone else. Simply put, Steinbrenner was going to do everything he could to stop him from leaving New York.

Steinbrenner called Aaron Judge and directly asked him:

“Do you want to be a Yankee?”

Aaron Judge responded that he still wanted to do it, and Steinbrenner asked what it would take to sign him. Judge asked the Yankees to at least meet the offer made by the Giants. Steinbrenner said yes right away. The Yankees got the guy they wanted.

GM Brian Cashman spent all night working out the details, which include a full no-trade clause. The deal will be finalized after Aaron Judge gets a physical and the contract language is finished. He didn’t sleep the night before a press conference on Wednesday morning, but he was happy with the job done.

“Our owner spearheaded efforts, as he stated he would do everything in his power to retain Aaron Judge,’’ Cashman said, “Rest assured, he’s putting his money where his mouth is.”

Boone woke up Wednesday morning around 5 o’clock. He looked at his cell phone. There were a few text messages, including one from Brian Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees, telling him that Aaron Judge stayed with the New York Yankees.

“Congratulations,” said Gabe Kapler, the manager of the Giants, when he saw Boone at 9 a.m, “But this one hurts.”

What do you think about the last-minute push by the Yankees’ top brass? Leave your comment below.

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