Aaron Judge stays in the Bronx. According to multiple reports, the superstar player and the AL MVP ruler are re-signing with the New York Yankees in a nine-year $360 million deal.
The judge reported that the judge flew to San Diego late Tuesday night to make his decision among the Yankees, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.
The pitcher’s previous contract lasted the 2022 season, but he said he “wants to be a lifelong Yankee” in March, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
Although a deal didn’t happen before or during the 2022 campaign, the judge didn’t change his mind at the stars’ rest when he told reporters: “I want to play for the Yankees. I want to be here for a long time. If it works, it works. But if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. It’s out of my hands.”
The lack of a long-term deal put pressure on the quadruple All-Star during the season, and he only launched one of the best individual campaigns in MLB history.
It ends with a slash of .311/425/.686, a record of 62 American League home runs and 131 RBIs while capturing the attention of the baseball world. While the Yankees lost to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series, Judge’s record-setting efforts raised his price outside the season.
“The Dodgers and other [Los Angeles] clubs could also become serious pursuers of Judge, turning this war into a war of more than $300 million,” reported Randy Miller of NJ.com in October.
New York won this bidding war, and he will remain one of the faces of the franchise, as he has been since his formidable rookie season in 2017.
The judge won the Rookie of the Year AL and a silver champion while finishing second in the MVPAL by voting behind a .284/.422/.627, 52 best home runs and 114 RBIs.
Injuries then became a problem, as he played 112 games in 2018, 102 games in 2019 and 28 games in the shortened 2020 campaign. Nevertheless, he was an all-star in 2018 and started 27 long balls in 2018 and 2019.
The judge also jumped back impressively in 2021.287/373 /.544 with 39 home runs and 98 RBIs in 148 games. The performance underscores its long-term importance to the Yankees and certainly gave them additional confidence when it comes to signing it to a new treaty.
Then came his MVP performance in 2022, which did nothing to break that trust.
Now the judge will focus on winning his first World Series title after helping New York lead to the playoffs in each of its first six full seasons.
