AL East

One member of the New York Yankees' front office believes Aaron Judge is going to stay put this offseason.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Monday that the club executive is more "confident" than he was in the past as the Bronx Bombers attempt to re-sign the slugger after a career season.

"The belief is that the Yankees will be willing to top Judge's $36 million a year asking price from back in spring," Heyman wrote.

Heyman also noted keeping Judge is "easily" the team's biggest goal of the offseason, which should come as no surprise.

After all, he is the face of the franchise and coming off one of the best seasons in Major League Baseball history. He finished with a .311/.425/.686 slash line, 62 home runs, 131 RBI and 111 walks, leading the league in all those categories except for batting average.

The four-time All-Star will likely add an American League MVP to his resume after setting the record for the most home runs in a season in the history of the Junior Circuit.

The 30-year-old also appeared in a career-best 157 games, which is notable after health issues were something of a concern in the past. He played 112 games in 2018, 102 games in 2019 and just 28 games during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Judge bounced back and played 148 games last season and then further proved he can be a durable cornerstone of the lineup during his record-setting effort in 2022.

New York reached the American League Championship Series but got swept by the Houston Astros, extending its World Series drought to 13 years since it won the 2009 title. Every season is championship-or-bust for the Yankees, but their 2023 chances may be determined in the coming days and weeks with the pursuit of Judge dominating baseball headlines.

If they can't retain him, it will surely take multiple other additions to even begin to make up for his loss.

Xander Bogaerts will reportedly join the list of talented free-agent shortstops this offseason.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Boston Red Sox shortstop is "expected to opt out" of his deal. Heyman noted Carlos Correa is expected to do the same with the Minnesota Twins, which would mean the list of free-agent shortstops would include Correa, Bogaerts, Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson.

Heyman also noted the Red Sox would prefer to keep Bogaerts.

If the 30-year-old stayed locked into his deal, he would have been in line to make $20 million a year for the next four seasons until he was an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 campaign.

Even with the positional competition, he figures to receive what could be the last major deal of his career given his age. His resume includes two World Series titles, four All-Star selections and four Silver Sluggers.

He was excellent again in 2022 with a .307/.377/.456 slash line, 15 home runs and 73 RBI. He was a bright spot for a Red Sox team that finished in last place in the American League East.

There is some additional context for Boston when it comes to Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, who is scheduled for arbitration in 2023 and free agency in 2024. The high-profile team traded franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts after the 2019 season, and he proceeded to join the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Los Angeles won the 2020 World Series with Betts in the lineup.

Heyman previously reported "the mistake of trading Mookie Betts raises the urgency" for Boston when it comes to the Bogaerts and Devers decisions and appeasing a fanbase that is likely still upset with the previous decision and the poor finish in 2022.

The Red Sox will have to compete with other teams on the open market, though, as Bogaerts seems to be headed to free agency.

Aaron Boone has been manager of the New York Yankees since 2018, and he has yet to deliver the Bronx a World Series title despite boasting a roster that includes All-Star talent in Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and others.

While fans of the Pinstripes have been calling for the Yankees to fire Boone since they were eliminated from the 2022 postseason with a loss to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series, the 49-year-old claims he's not worried about losing his job.

"As far as the job security, I’ve never worried about that—ever," Boone said, per Larry Fleisher of the Associated Press. "And the reality is last year I signed an extension and so my focus is on putting my steps forward to what’s next."

Boone's comments come after he was asked during an appearance on The Michael Kay Show (via SNY's Garrett Stepien) Thursday if he thought his job was in jeopardy. He responded:

"Well, I don't know. I really don't (worry about that stuff). Obviously, last year, when my contract was up -- obviously, that was speculated on a lot and I didn't even worry about it then. It's like, 'If it works out and we come together and work out a deal, great.' We were able to do that. So I think, finishing this year, I didn't look at it like that. I look at it as, 'I've got a few years left on my contract and the goal doesn't stop.'

"Even though there's the disappointment and the finality of this season, you've also got to pick yourself off the mat and understand that now starts the building toward next year and trying to get to this point and ultimately push through. That's what you continue to work for and that's what you focus on. You don't really worry about the -- I guess the -- job security. You understand that comes with the territory. And you certainly understand that when you sign up in this profession or this role."

Boone agreed to a three-year contact with the Yankees in October 2021, and team owner Hal Steinbrenner told the Associated Press after the Yankees were eliminated from the 2022 postseason that he intended to keep the manager in 2023.

In his five years as Yankees manager, Boone is 427-281. While his team has made the playoffs in each of his five seasons, it has never made it past the ALCS.

The Yankees put together an impressive 2022 campaign, claiming the AL East title with a 99-63 record. They entered the postseason with high hopes to make the World Series, but the bats went dormant and the pitching faltered against an Astros team that is now one win away from winning its first title since 2017.

New York will be championship or bust in 2023, especially if Judge returns on a new contract. If the Yankees fail to make the World Series for the sixth straight year under Boone, then it might be time for them to consider a change in the dugout.

The New York Yankees exercised their $15 million team option on starting pitcher Luis Severino on Monday, keeping him in the Bronx for the 2023 season.

General manager Brian Cashman announced the Yankees would pick up the option while speaking to reporters Friday.

Severino, who is entering his age-29 season, went 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA (1.00 WHIP) and 112 strikeouts in 102 innings in 2022.

He landed on the injured list July 14 with a low-grade right lat strain but returned to the team Sept. 21 and made three starts down the stretch. His best start came Oct. 3 with seven no-hit innings against the Texas Rangers.

The right-hander also made two starts in the postseason. He allowed three runs each in starts against the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series and Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series.

Severino was one of the American League's top aces in 2017 and 2018, finishing third and ninth in the AL Cy Young voting, respectively.

Unfortunately, injuries have kept him off the field for large chunks of time since then.

In 2019 spring training, Severino suffered rotator cuff inflammation. He then missed five months during the 2019 season after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 lat strain.

He did not take part in the 2020 season after Tommy John surgery. Severino sat out the beginning of the 2021 campaign as he continued his recovery, but then a Grade 2 groin strain pushed his comeback to September 2021.

The two-time All-Star returned to the rotation on a full-time basis in 2022 after a four-year absence.

Severino, Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes are all expected to be back with the Yankees in 2023. The Bronx Bombers won the AL East with a 99-63 record, but the Astros swept them in the ALCS.

Longtime New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he wants to stay with the franchise but does not have a contract.

"I have had a brief conversation with Hal Steinbrenner," Cashman told reporters Friday. "So my contract expired October 31. He said we'll obviously talk and expressed interest in having me back, and of course I'd like to stay. But we have not had any further discussion on that."

Cashman has been the Yankees' general manager since 1998. The franchise has captured four World Series championships during his tenure, though none since 2009.

The Yankees have not reached the Fall Classic since winning that 2009 championship, falling short in the American League Championship Series on five occasions. The Houston Astros toppled the Yankees in the 2017, 2019 and 2022 ALCS, including a four-game sweep last month.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Cashman is "100 percent" likely to stay with the organization. Steinbrenner told the Associated Press last month the team also plans to retain manager Aaron Boone, who took criticism amid the team's second-half slide and subsequent playoff disappointment.

Assuming Cashman does sign a new contract, he'll walk into the offseason with the task of signing presumptive AL MVP Aaron Judge to a new contract. Judge set an AL record with 62 home runs during his walk year and will almost certainly land a contract worth more than $300 million guaranteed.

Cashman's front office offered Judge a seven-year, $213.5 million contract before the season, which the slugger declined. If he leaves in free agency, that type of flub can cost a general manager his job. But since the Yankees need to make a decision on Cashman well before Judge makes his choice, odds are the GM will be back for at least the 2023 season.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is set to become an unrestricted free agent this winter, and there's a very real possibility he signs elsewhere ahead of the 2023 campaign.

However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said this week that he hopes Judge spends his entire career in pinstripes, via MLB.com's Bryan Hoch:

“Hopefully we get to the point where he’s back in pinstripes for his entire career, like I believe it should be. You never know where it’s going to end up. If that comes [and Judge leaves], you’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust and find other ways to get things done. We’ll see how it plays out, but, hopefully, it does work out between Aaron [and the Yankees]. He’s going to win MVP, and you couldn’t have a better person leading your organization from a player standpoint.”

The Yankees have been adamant about retaining Judge and making him a competitive contract offer in free agency. Team president Randy Levine said on The Show podcast in September (h/t ESPN):

"We think Aaron Judge is an all-time Yankee. We think he's a great player, beyond a great player. We think he's a great person. That's why we offered him the highest position player contract in the history of the Yankees.

"I admire him that he went out and took this upon his shoulders and we'll sit down with him and hopefully figure it out. I think there's no question we want him back and no question we value him."

Judge declined a seven-year, $213.5 million offer from the Yankees in April, and he admitted at the time that he was disappointed contract negotiations stalled because he wanted to spend his entire career in the Bronx.

"I'm just disappointed because I've been vocal that I want to be a Yankee for life," Judge told reporters.

However, he added that he was comfortable going to free agency:

"Very few people get this opportunity to talk extension. Me getting this opportunity is something special, and I appreciate the Yankees wanting to do that. But I don't mind going into free agency. It is what it is. At the end of this year, I’ll talk to 30 teams. The Yankees will be one of those teams."

Judge deciding to bet on himself during the 2022 campaign paid off more than anyone could have expected, and the star slugger is set to become one of the highest-paid players in baseball after a historic year.

The 30-year-old slashed .311/.425/.686 with 62 home runs, 131 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 157 regular-season games. He set the American League record for the most home runs in a single season, breaking former Yankee Roger Maris' record.

If Judge signs elsewhere, the Yankees organization is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

New York Yankees fans are no stranger to booing players they believe should be performing better, but the booing of Aaron Judge, the team's best player, during the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros was surprising to many.

Even Astros closer Ryan Pressly told reporters Thursday that players in Houston's bullpen couldn't believe Yankees fans booed Judge during the ALCS.

"I don't understand why you would boo a guy that has given you nothing but joy, especially this year...I was pretty surprised to hear him get booed out there," Pressly said.

The Yankees were swept by the Astros in four games and eliminated from the 2022 postseason at Yankee Stadium. Judge's performance at the dish was heavily scrutinized as he posted just one hit in 16 at-bats.

That came after he posted four hits, including two home runs, in 20 at-bats in five games of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Although Judge was booed by Yankees fans in Games 3 of the ALCS, he told reporters after the team's Game 3 loss that he understood why fans, who have incredibly high expectations for the Bronx Bombers, were upset:

“There’s a big Game 4 coming up and if we get down, they’ll stick with us and we’ll do our thing. I understand why there is boos and why they’re yelling at times. But we’ve got to pick it up as a team and we’ll take their support, that’s for sure."

However, SNY's Andy Martino reported Thursday that Yankees players were "taken aback by the level of negativity hitting them" during the ALCS, though it's unclear if Judge was one of those players:

"More than one Yankee player has told his agent this week that playing at the stadium last weekend was an unusually brutal experience. It was hard for many teammates to believe that fans booed [Aaron] Judge. Even a difficult person and underperformer like Josh Donaldson was turned into a somewhat sympathetic figure internally by the force of the jeering."

Judge is set to become an unrestricted free agent this winter, and the boos by Yankees fans could have him packing his bags for a new destination come 2023. Though the Yankees know they can't afford to lose the All-Star slugger, they have reiterated that they will make him a competitive offer.

However, it wouldn't be surprising to see Judge sign elsewhere, especially considering he'll likely have his choice of more than a handful of teams to choose from by the time he needs to make a decision.

The Boston Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers reportedly have some significant ground to cover if he is going to remain with the team when his contract expires after the 2023 season.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Thursday that "the gap is said to remain large" even though the two sides reopened contract discussions. Heyman noted Boston offered $200 million-plus, but Devers is looking for at least 10 years and $300 million-plus.

Boston notably traded Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2020 season, which is a decision that Heyman pointed out "raises the urgency" for the team to keep homegrown stars in Devers and shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

According to the report, the original offer for Devers was for approximately $168 million and eight years. What's more, the proposal to Bogaerts of $20 million and one year more apparently "insulted" him and had some media members who cover the team wondering if it was an actual offer.

Bogaerts has a player option on his current deal for next season.

Devers seems like a potential foundational piece for Boston as it looks to bounce back from its last-place finish in the American League East. He is just 26 years old and already has a resume that includes two All-Star selections and a Silver Slugger.

He slashed .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI this season after finishing the 2021 campaign with career-best marks of 38 long balls and 113 RBI.

Devers also proved he can perform on pressure-packed stages when he helped lead the 2018 Red Sox to the World Series title by slashing .294/.351/.382 in the playoffs.

Competing in the AL East figures to be a daunting challenge for years to come thanks to the presence of the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and even the resurgent Baltimore Orioles, so it would make sense for Boston to look to keep its key young performers such as Devers.

It will take more money than it has offered to this point to make that a reality, but fans can at least take solace knowing the discussions remain ongoing.

Aaron Boone will return as the New York Yankees' manager in 2023, team owner Hal Steinbrenner said Wednesday.

"As far as Boone’s concerned, we just signed him and for all the same reasons I listed a year ago, I believe he is a very good manager," Steinbrenner told Mark Didtler of the Associated Press. "I don’t see a change there."

The Yankees re-signed Boone to a three-year contract with a club option for 2025 last year, and Steinbrenner told reporters at the time:

"We have a person and manager in Aaron Boone who possesses the baseball acumen and widespread respect in our clubhouse to continue to guide us forward. As a team and as an organization, we must grow, evolve and improve. We need to get better. Period. I know Aaron fully embraces our expectations of success and I look forward to drawing on his intelligence, instincts and leadership in pursuit of our next World Series championship."

The Yankees hired Boone to replace Joe Girardi as manager after the 2017 season. He's posted a 427-281 regular-season record over five seasons, all of which have ended with Yankees playoff appearances.

However, none of New York's postseason runs under Boone have ended in World Series berths. They went as far as the American League Championship Series on two occasions (2019, 2022) but fell to the Houston Astros each time. Houston notably swept New York in the ALCS this season.

The rival Boston Red Sox ended their postseason runs in 2018 and 2021, while the Tampa Bay Rays did so in 2020.

Boone's teams have largely excelled in the regular season save for the occasional slump.

The Yankees have won two AL East titles under his watch, including this season following a 99-63 campaign. They also won 100 games in 2018 and 103 in 2019.

But the postseason has not gone well for Boone's Yankees. The team has posted just a 14-17 record in the playoffs under Boone, who played in the major leagues from 1997 to 2009 before working as an ESPN analyst from 2010 to 2017.

This year's team failed in the playoffs against Houston largely because of an offense that hit just .162 and had more than twice as many strikeouts (50) as hits (21) in the ALCS.

The Yankees will go back to the drawing board with Boone at the helm for at least one more year.

The New York Yankees were reportedly "taken aback by the level of negativity hitting them" during American League Championship Series home games over the weekend, according to SNY's Andy Martino.

The Yankees were swept in four games by the Houston Astros, leading to a tense environment at Yankee Stadium as New York lost the final two games of the series.

Per that report: "More than one Yankee player has told his agent this week that playing at the stadium last weekend was an unusually brutal experience. It was hard for many teammates to believe that fans booed [Aaron] Judge. Even a difficult person and underperformer like Josh Donaldson was turned into a somewhat sympathetic figure internally by the force of the jeering."

Some consternation was to be expected.

The Yankees returned to New York already trailing 2-0 in the series and promptly dropped Game 3 5-0. The Yankees had also been tested by the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series, needing all five games to eliminate them after trailing two games to one. That came after an August swoon—the team went just 10-18 in the month—likely cost them home-field advantage in the ALCS.

There might have been the brewing feeling that the Yankees were ripe to underachieve in the ALCS, in other words, though the Astros have also been on an absolute tear since May and have yet to lose in these playoffs. Outside of New York, it didn't come as a surprise that the Astros advanced to the World Series, though the sweep was a bit of a twist.

So combine a Yankees fanbase that has incredibly high expectations, has been spoiled by past successes and may have felt like its team was dramatically overmatched, and you get a cauldron for angst.

But that perhaps went haywire when Judge—who had an incredible, MVP-caliber season, blasting an American League-record 62 home runs—was booed by Yankees fans throughout the postseason.

Judge struggled, no doubt, going 5-for-36 with 15 strikeouts in the playoffs and 1-for-16 in the ALCS, and he made the final out in Game 4 against the Astros, a 6-5 loss. But the greater context is that Judge is set to become a free agent, and the Yankees cannot afford to lose him.

He's hardly the only superstar to be booed in New York. But it's hard to imagine he won't at least consider the reception he received at Yankee Stadium in these playoffs when it comes time to make a decision. It has to be a huge concern for the front office with other teams lurking and an enormous payday on the horizon.