Aaron Judge has made his free agency decision.
Judge re-signed with the New York Yankees on Wednesday morning. The 2022 American League MVP opted to stay in The Bronx after an array of suitors pursued him this offseason. Jon Morosi of MLB Network first reported the news of Judge’s re-signing.
Sources: Aaron Judge is in agreement with the #Yankees. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 7, 2022
Terms of the deal later followed. MLB insider Ken Rosenthal reported on the contract, which was a whopper. Rosenthal tweeted, “Source confirms: Aaron Judge in agreement with Yankees, nine years, $360M.”
Source confirms: Aaron Judge in agreement with Yankees, nine years, $360M. First: @JonMorosi.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2022
Tuesday had been a chaotic day in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes. It looked for a minute like he would sign with the San Francisco Giants. Well, Arson Judge might have, we’ll never know. But the idea appeared to gain steam. It was not to be though, as Judge will stay with the team he’s always played with.
This is a big move for the Yankees, who basically needed to keep the reigning AL MVP or risk fan backlash. The prolific outfielder is now set to be in New York for the next nine seasons. He got the ninth year that he wanted and Rosenthal’s prediction of that ninth year came true.
The MLB world reacted to the news as it broke.
AARON JUDGE IS STAYING! pic.twitter.com/iWPADxKa44
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) December 7, 2022
Aaron Judge in New York. Arson Judge in San Francisco. MLB enters a new golden age. https://t.co/CtQCM5YqLL
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 7, 2022
Aaron Judge was offered 8-years, $230M by the Yankees before last season.
He turned it down, had one of the great seasons in recent baseball history and turned it into an extra $130M.
One of the best "bet on yourself" moves you'll ever see. https://t.co/raq1XJH3aD
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 7, 2022
BRIAN CASHMAN: That’s it. It’s over. We give up. You, Aaron Judge, can… can be on our baseball team.
HAL STEINBRENNER: (face in hands, weeping) https://t.co/wMocJIgMrc
— Justin Klugh (@justin_klugh) December 7, 2022
Major disappointment for Giants, who must pivot to the deep shortstop market after Aaron Judge decides not to come home. LOTS of money for Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson and others. https://t.co/i6EtthOItq
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) December 7, 2022
So the Yankees will wind up paying Aaron Judge $146.5M more than they had offered him at the beginning of the year.
Just to put that in perspective, that’s more than the Guardians will pay Jose Ramirez over the life of his extension ($141M).
— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) December 7, 2022
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022