Aaron Judge

You can practically hear the sigh of relief coming from New York, both from the Yankees themselves and perhaps even more so from their fans.

For against what like pretty good odds, Aaron Judge is coming back.

There were indeed signs aplenty throughout 2022 that the 30-year-old outfielder could leave the Bronx this winter. The most recent came Tuesday when the Yankees got a brief yet system-jolting scare from a report that Judge was headed to the San Francisco Giants.

But as Jon Morosi of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported, the American League MVP is sticking with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract.

All. Rise.

Aaron Judge, Yankees are reportedly in agreement on a 9-year deal, according to MLB Network Insider @jonmorosi. pic.twitter.com/5xxG6cmjGP

— MLB (@MLB) December 7, 2022

The guarantee makes Judge's deal the richest free-agent signing in MLB history, surpassing Bryce Harper's $330 million pact with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2019.

What happens next for Judge and the Yankees will be determined over the next nine years. For now, it ought to be good enough for anyone with so much as a passing interest in the franchise that such a dramatic chapter in its history has gotten a happy ending.

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This Season Wasn't All a Feel-Good Story

It's amazing how, when broken down to its essentials, a story can look so different on paper than what everyone lived through in real time.

The Baseball Reference page for the Yankees' 2022 season is a good example. It shows that they won 99 games and went to the American League Championship Series, and that the 6'7", 282-pound Judge aided the cause with 62 home runs, 131 runs batted in, 133 runs scored, a 1.111 OPS and numerous other stats that made him easily deserving of his first MVP.

A person who looks at that page years from now could get the impression that the '22 season was nothing but good times for the Yankees, and especially for Judge. But us? In the here and now? Yeah, we have the context.

We know that the Yankees went into their '22 campaign on a wave of disappointment, starting with yet another playoff loss to the Boston Red Sox in October 2021 and continuing with a weirdly underwhelming offseason.

The Yankees might have redeemed themselves if they offered Judge, already a three-time All-Star and the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year, a contract extension to his liking before his self-imposed Opening Day deadline. Yet they did not, as he swatted down a final overture that would have paid him $213.5 million over seven years.

Low-balling Judge was merely one of the Yankees' questionable decisions. The other was going public with their terms, which Judge admitted being irked at to Sean Gregory of Time:

“We kind of said, Hey, let’s keep this between us. I was a little upset that the numbers came out. I understand it’s a negotiation tactic. Put pressure on me. Turn the fans against me, turn the media on me. That part of it I didn’t like.”

The Yankees' tactic seemed to work initially. Though Judge started the year in a funk, it's hard to imagine him hearing boos at Yankee Stadium if not for the lingering drama of his contract negotiations.

Aaron Judge says the boos he got toward the end of tonight's game is "nothing new" pic.twitter.com/lluGsfdujK

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 12, 2022

For a time, things got good. Very good. Judge put himself on pace for home run history and, in turn, elevated the Yankees to historic heights. Through July 8, he already had 30 home runs and the Yankees were off to a 61-23 start.

But while Judge eventually did break Roger Maris' 61-year-old AL home run record, the Yankees skidded to a 38-40 finish and were little more than a pushover in the playoffs. So much so that the boo birds were out at Yankee Stadium in the final two games of the Yankees' ALCS sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros, including for a slumping Judge once again.

In keeping with his usual demeanor, Judge himself took the playoff boos in stride. The general mood of the team, though, was dour. Per SNY's Andy Martino, having the home crowd turn hostile during the ALCS was an "unusually brutal experience" for multiple Yankees.

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In Defense of Yankees Fans

Others have made this point better than we're prepared to, but Yankees fans really showed their butts in 2022.

In addition to the misguided boo birds, who can forget the ugly incident involving Myles Straw and the Cleveland Guardians? Or the treatment of Joey Gallo, who was feeling like, well, less than his best self at the end of his Yankee tenure?

There's only so much one can defend any of this, particularly knowing that bad apples are going to be bad apples and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Yet there also seemed to be another element at play in this behavior that smacked of frustration boiling over.

And that, at least, is understandable.

Though nobody can call the Yankees fans of today "long-suffering," there are at least two things they can justifiably gripe about. The first is that, while 30 straight seasons of winning records is all well and good, the club's 13-year World Series drought is not at all in keeping with a tradition that includes 40 pennants and 27 championships.

And thus, the second thing that Yankees fans can justifiably gripe about: The team hasn't been trying hard enough to live up to that tradition.

Consider the trajectory of the club's payrolls. The Yankees used to go into every season with the league's highest payroll. Save for the shortened 2020 campaign, that hasn't been the case since 2013:

It would be one thing if this could be traced back to sudden shortages of resources, but Forbes has consistently pegged the Yankees as MLB's most valuable franchise. Its revenues hit $482 million in 2022, and $668 million as recently as 2019.

Rather than one of an inability to spend, the story here has often seemed like an unwillingness to do so. And for this, there's even a smoking gun.

“That’s my job every year, to make sure that we’re financially responsible,” Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner told reporters in March. “I’ve got a lot of partners and banks and bondholders and things like that that I answer to. But at the same time, it’s always the goal to win a championship.”

Financial responsibility first, championships second. A fine way to manage the expectations of stakeholders, maybe, but a piss-poor way to placate fans who see 27 representations of the latter every time they visit Yankee Stadium.

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A $360 Million Olive Branch

And yet, here we are in a world where Judge is going to be a Yankee for the next nine years precisely because the man at the top threw caution to the wind.

It wasn't just the Giants, who reportedly offered $360 million, and the San Diego Padres, who offered a whopping $400 million, who forced Steinbrenner's hand. It was also Judge himself, who Martino says personally bargained with Steinbrenner on Tuesday night:

https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1600523132770701313

Perhaps Judge left money on the table by not taking San Diego's offer, but his new deal otherwise leaves him lacking for nothing.

Judge will earn $40 million per year—a first for an MLB position player—through his age-39 season in 2031. He gets to stay at Yankee Stadium, which has a short right field to suit his aging legs as well as it has his opposite-field power. And true to Steinbrenner's word, it sounds as if Judge will become the Yankees' first captain since Derek Jeter:

Judge is”very likely” to receive the Captain title, as he shouid once Yankees deal is completed

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 7, 2022

Thus is the way pointed for Judge to truly cement his place among the Yankees' ample stable of icons. There are already many numbers out in Monument Park, but one can easily imagine "99" there as well.

Especially, of course, if Judge helps the Yankees win at least one World Series before the end of his deal.

His signing makes that eventuality so much more likely in the short term, as retaining him means the Yankees are keeping a source of 24 percent of the home runs and nearly 20 percent of the WAR they produced in 2022. The long term hinges on how they build around him, but, hey, that's where such a notable recommitment to spending is even more encouraging than the bounty of potential stars the team has in its farm system.

So as far as Yankees fans should be concerned, the Judge deal is as much a peace offering as it is a transaction. It's a piece of business that signifies that, no matter how overdue, the team clearly means business again.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

New York Yankees chairperson Hal Steinbrenner helped seal the deal for Aaron Judge's return to the Big Apple.

According to SNY's Andy Martino, Steinbrenner reached out to the star slugger with negotiations entering the final stages and acquiesced when the American League Most Valuable Player requested a ninth year in the Yankees' offer.

https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1600523132770701313

This is a narrative that plays to everyone's benefit.

The Yankees had a top-three Opening Day payroll in each of the last four seasons, but the 13-year gap since their last World Series title has brought continued scrutiny on ownership and the front office.

If Judge had signed with another team, it would've furthered the perception that the Steinbrenner family was less concerned with on-field results as long as the money keeps rolling in.

Now, Steinbrenner can point to Judge's deal, and his personal role in making it happen, as a sign of his ambition.

Judge, meanwhile, affirmed his commitment to the franchise. Not only did he re-sign, but he also left money on the table by doing so. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the San Diego Padres swooped in at the eleventh hour with a 10-year, $400 million offer.

Had money been Judge's primary motivator, he would be calling San Diego home right now.

Instead, it appears New York was his preferred destination all along and that it was only a matter of the Bronx Bombers' willingness to pony up.

Aaron Judge will remain with the New York Yankees in a signing that could affect all of MLB.

After a year's worth of back and forth and a lot of interest from the rest of baseball, the outfielder agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees on Wednesday, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The reward comes after a dominant 2022 season in which Judge led MLB with 62 home runs and 131 RBI on the way to his first MVP award.

The contract is a significant one as we head into the 2023 season. Here are three instant reactions after the latest deal.

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Betting On Yourself Can Pay

It's rare to hear the full details of contract offers that aren't signed, but Yankees general manager Brian Cashman revealed in April that Judge turned down an eight-year, $230.5 million deal before Opening Day.

Judge admitted in November that he initially thought this might have been a mistake.

"It was tough in the beginning, definitely in April when I think it took me two weeks to get my first home run," Judge said on MLB Network (h/t Dan Martin of the New York Post). "There's a little doubt that creeps into your mind about it and you’re sitting in the outfield kicking yourself, like, 'Man, maybe I should have taken that deal.'"

It turns out Judge was right to trust his first instincts.

The 30-year-old came through with one of the best hitter seasons in a decade. Beyond his American League record for home runs, he also set career highs with a .311 batting average, .425 on-base percentage and 211 OPS+.

As a result, he now has the third-largest contract in MLB history. At $40 million per year, his annual contract ranks third in baseball behind New York Mets pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Counting his $19 million earned in 2022, Judge added $148.5 million in contract value by not taking the offer last year and betting on himself.

Other players may replicate the move in the future, waiting until free agency to maximize their value rather than taking team-friendly contracts earlier in the process.

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Pressure Off Brian Cashman...for Now

The Yankees re-signed Cashman to a four-year deal earlier this week, but fans certainly wouldn't have been happy if that preceded Judge leaving in free agency.

New York was unable to lock up Judge before his monster 2022 season, and there were rumors about the San Francisco Giants becoming the leader to sign the outfielder. The Yankees would have lost not only a major piece of their lineup for next season but also a massively popular player in the biggest market in the country.

Any struggles in 2023 would have put Cashman squarely on the hot seat.

Re-signing Judge gives the fans what they want and keeps the Yankees as a top contender after they went 99-63 last season. With other big hitters like Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo still in the lineup, New York should still have one of the top offenses in baseball and be the team to beat in the AL East.

The Yankees still have work to do, however, especially considering they have failed to get past the Houston Astros in the AL. They have reached the playoffs in each of the last eight years but have yet to reach the World Series in this span.

Cashman must continue to add depth to the lineup and rotation to help put New York over the top.

If the team falls short in the playoffs again next year, the GM will hear more calls for his job.

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Steep Drop-Off in Impact Free Agents

The Giants were among the top teams in the Judge sweepstakes, while the Boston Red Sox were also in touch with the player, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. And other big-market teams like the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers are always seemingly involved in the potential signings of top free agents.

But there are few options for teams seeking an impact player in free agency, especially in the outfield.

Judge has had a 16.9 fWAR over the last two seasons combined, but only one other free-agent outfielder—Brandon Nimmo—has had more than 5.0 fWAR in this span, per MLB.com.

Nimmo is a solid all-around player who could help a contender, but he had just 16 home runs last season after tallying eight in each of the previous three years. The 29-year-old is nowhere near the middle-of-the-order difference-maker Judge has been.

Those in need of offensive help could target one of the shortstops among Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts or Dansby Swanson, but arguably the top option at the position is already off the board after Trea Turner agreed to an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. The remaining players could get pricey with limited alternatives on the open market.

Any team seeking a big-name addition this offseason better move quickly because the well will dry up in a hurry.

It appears that the Pittsburgh Pirates may move outfielder Bryan Reynolds this offseason. The 28-year-old has requested a trade, though Pittsburgh has publicly pushed back against the idea of trading him.

"While it is disappointing, this will have zero impact on our decision-making this offseason or in the future," the Pirates said in a statement, per Jay Cohen of the Associated Press.

Pittsburgh's stance could quickly change, however. Reynolds doesn't have a long-term deal in place, and he is drawing interest in the trade market.

The New York Yankees were interested, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

First tidbit from the lobby, per an industry source, is that the Yankees are “very much” in on Bryan Reynolds. “They’re on it.” … Not exactly breaking news that there’s significant interest in the Pirates outfielder.

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) December 5, 2022

Absolutely no one should be surprised by New York's reported interest. However, it has probably gone out the window over the last 24 hours.

New York likely viewed Reynolds as a Plan B in the outfield in case it couldn't re-sign reigning home-run king Aaron Judge. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the San Francisco Giants had a huge offer, "believed to be [in the] $360M neighborhood," on the table for Judge.

San Francisco's offer was likely reason enough for New York to consider alternatives.

However, on Wednesday morning, news broke that Judge had agreed to a new deal with the Yankees. The news was first reported by MLB Network's Jon Morosi and confirmed by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Source confirms: Aaron Judge in agreement with Yankees, nine years, $360M. First: @JonMorosi.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2022

With New York almost certainly out of the mix, the Toronto Blue Jays become the most logical landing spot for Reynolds in a trade. Toronto is looking to build off of last year's 92-win campaign, and Reynolds is exactly the sort of up-and-coming star it could build around long-term.

According to Morosi, the Blue Jays are interested in making a deal:

The #BlueJays are a team to watch in the Bryan Reynolds market. They have interest in him and want to add an athletic switch hitter to their outfield. Based on strong industry interest, Jays would likely need to include Tiedemann or Martínez to have high offer. @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 5, 2022

As Morosi noted, a strong offer from Toronto may have to include the likes of pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann and infielder Orelvis Martinez. Parting with two young prospects would be difficult, but neither Tiedemann nor Martínez is well-positioned to make an impact this season.

Reynolds could make an immediate impact. He's a strong outfielder and solid at the plate. An All-Star in 2021, he finished this past season with a .262 batting average, 27 home runs and 62 RBI.

According to Morosi, the Blue Jays are looking for a hitter who can switch at the plate. Reynolds can do exactly that.

The other factor to consider is Reynolds' contract. He's due to earn just $6.75 million this season on an arbitration extension, according to Spotrac. That's low enough that Toronto could hypothetically add Reynolds and still chase one of the big-name free agents remaining on the market—perhaps a pitcher.

Noted sports agent Scott Boras recently spoke with Hazel Mae and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet to discuss Toronto's offseason priorities.

"I think their priority right now is to try to facilitate an advance on the offence,” Boras said. “As to what they"re going to do on pitching, I think they want to achieve (offensive upgrades) first."

Adding Reynolds could help upgrade the offense while leaving enough financial flexibility to approach the pitching market—a free-agent pool that still includes Carlos Rodón, Zack Greinke and Corey Kluber.

The big unknown is whether Pittsburgh is willing to accept a fair offer for Reynolds. It might hold out for an unreasonable trade package, or it could yet smooth things over and lock him up long-term. If the Pirates are willing to make a fair trade, though, adding Reynolds absolutely makes sense for the Blue Jays.

The New York Yankees saw their 2023 payroll balloon to over $200 million on Wednesday with the reported re-signing of superstar outfielder Aaron Judge.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Judge and the Yankees came to terms on a nine-year, $360 million contract, meaning Judge will make an average of $40 million per season over the life of the deal.

Prior to the reported Judge signing, Spotrac listed the Yankees' 2023 payroll at $162,085,714. The Judge signing will bring it up to $202,085,714.

News of Judge returning to the Bronx Bombers came one day after Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Judge had signed with the San Francisco Giants, only to retract it.

The 30-year-old Judge is coming off one of the most prolific seasons in MLB history, as he set a new American League single-season record with 62 home runs, surpassing the previous record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961.

In addition to leading MLB in home runs, he led the AL in RBI (131) and runs scored (133). He also stole a career-high 16 bases and hit a career-best .311, which was second in the AL, leaving him just short of the Triple Crown.

Judge's new contract is tied for the second-biggest in MLB history in terms of total dollars with Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, behind only the 12-year, $365 million deal Mookie Betts signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His $40 million average annual salary is also the highest in MLB history among position players.

While it is a hefty price to pay and a long commitment to make to a player already in his 30s, there is no denying that Judge was the centerpiece of the Yankees offense last season and the primary reason why they went 99-63, won the AL East and reached the American League Championship Series.

Judge shoots to the top of the list in terms of the Yankees' highest-paid players annually, ahead of pitcher Gerrit Cole ($36 million) and slugger Giancarlo Stanton ($32 million).

New York also re-signed first baseman Anthony Rizzo to a two-year, $40 million contract this offseason.

To this point, the Yanks are largely set to return the same roster they had last season, with the exception of some potential call-ups from their talented prospect pool.

There are still plenty of quality players available in free agency, however, meaning the Judge signing may just be the start of what they plan to do on the open market.

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is staying with the only Major League Baseball team he has ever known for the foreseeable future.

Judge and the Yankees agreed to a new nine-year, $360 million contract Wednesday, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that Judge flew into San Diego late Tuesday night to make his decision between the Yankees, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.

The slugger's previous contract ran through the 2022 season, but he said he "wants to be a Yankee for life" in March, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

While a deal didn't happen prior to or during the 2022 campaign, Judge didn't change his tune at the All-Star break when he told reporters: "I want to play for the Yankees. I want to be here for a long time. If it works out, it works out. 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 four-time All-Star during the season, and all he did was turn in one of the best individual campaigns in MLB history.

He finished with a .311/.425/.686 slash line, an American League-record 62 home runs and 131 RBI 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 drove up his price heading into the offseason.

"The [Los Angeles] Dodgers and other clubs could become serious pursuers of Judge, as well, turning this into a bidding war that figures to surpass $300 million," Randy Miller of NJ.com reported in October.

New York won that bidding war, and he will remain one of the faces of the franchise—as he has been since his terrific rookie season in 2017.

Judge won AL Rookie of the Year and a Silver Slugger while finishing second in AL MVP voting behind a slash line of .284/.422/.627, a league-best 52 home runs and 114 RBI.

Injuries then became an issue, as he played 112 games in 2018, 102 games in 2019 and 28 games in the shortened 2020 campaign. Still, he was an All-Star in 2018 and launched 27 long balls in 2018 and 2019.

Judge also bounced back in impressive fashion in 2021 by slashing .287/.373/.544 with 39 home runs and 98 RBI in 148 games. The performance underscored his long-term importance to the Yankees and surely gave them additional confidence when it came to signing him to a new deal.

Then came his MVP performance in 2022, which did nothing to quell that confidence.

Now Judge will focus on attempting to win his first career World Series title after helping lead New York to the playoffs in each of his first six full seasons.

The San Francisco Giants have reportedly agreed to a three-year, $43.5 million deal with veteran outfielder Mitch Haniger, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

According to that report, "Signing Haniger does not take the Giants out of the running for Aaron Judge. They have been pursuing both throughout free agency."

Haniger, 31, will give the Giants an instant dose of power. While he only played in 57 games last year due to back and ankle injuries and a bout with COVID-19, he still managed 11 homers and 34 RBI for the Seattle Mariners.

A healthy Haniger was excellent in 2021, hitting .253 with 39 dingers, 100 RBI, 110 runs and a .804 OPS in 157 contests. The 2018 All-Star has dealt with serious injury issues in his career, however, as a ruptured testicle and sports hernia cost him half the 2019 season and the full 2020 campaign.

But the 2021 version of Haniger, alongside the potential addition of Judge, would immediately give the Giants a ton of pop in the middle of the order. Last season, Joc Pederson led the team in both homers (23) and slugging percentage (.521), while Wilmer Flores topped the club in RBI (71).

For the moment, the reporting surrounding Judge is that he'll choose between the only team he's played for in his MLB career, the New York Yankees, and his favorite team from his childhood, the Giants.

Giants are in with a big offer to Judge — believed to be $360M neighborhood — but the assumption/belief among rivals is that the Yankees remain favorites. Yankees are hopeful but say they still don’t know.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 6, 2022

The Giants still, of course, are trying to sign Aaron Judge, just like the #Yankees.
Both teams insist that no decision has been made. https://t.co/nCIkX1SrE2

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 7, 2022

"There are those in the industry who believe that he already has in hand that nine-year offer we've been talking about for a while." 👀@jonmorosi has the latest news on Aaron Judge's market. #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/WcCqJT0gRI

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 5, 2022

Judge, 30, is the crown jewel of free agency after an AL MVP season that saw him hit .311 with 62 homers, 131 RBI, 133 runs and an eye-popping 1.111 OPS. He basically willed the Yankees into the postseason, and his loss would be devastating for New York.

His addition would be franchise-altering for the Giants, a team that won three World Series titles between the 2010-14 seasons but has made the playoffs just twice since.

One domino has fallen for San Francisco in its efforts to improve the lineup. All eyes now turn to Judge.

The San Francisco Giants mean business in their quest to sign Aaron Judge.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network, the Giants' current offer to the reigning American League MVP is believed to be in the range of $360 million.

Heyman noted the belief among rival teams is the New York Yankees remain the favorite to re-sign Judge, but they are still unsure of where things stand with their franchise player.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported last week the Yankees have an offer on the table worth around $300 million over eight years, but they could increase it depending on how far the Giants are willing to push the market.

It's been expected the Giants would be New York's main competition to sign Judge. Randy Miller of NJ.com reported in October they have the 30-year-old at the top of their wish list and "won’t be underbid" by any other team.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, it's "increasingly likely" that Judge's eventual contract will be for nine guaranteed years.

Rosenthal did note the Los Angeles Dodgers are hovering around, but they would prefer to sign Judge to a short-term deal with a high average annual salary.

The Giants have been rolling out the red carpet to let Judge know how much they want him. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry met with the four-time All-Star during his visit with San Francisco last month, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Judge is from California and was drafted out of high school by the Oakland Athletics in the 31st round in 2010. He elected to go to college at Fresno State and developed into a first-round pick by the Yankees three years later.

Since making his big league debut in 2016, Judge ranks second in MLB in homers (220), second in weighted on-base average (.407), fourth in slugging percentage (.583) and seventh in FanGraphs' wins above replacement (36.1).

Judge set an AL record with 62 homers during the 2022 season. He also led MLB in on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686) and total bases (391).

After winning 107 games in 2021, the Giants came back to earth with an 81-81 record last season. They have missed the playoffs five times in the past six seasons.

Aaron Judge would've preferred to keep his contract negotiations with the New York Yankees behind closed doors ahead of the 2022 MLB season.

"We kind of said, 'Hey, let's keep this between us,'" he said to Time's Sean Gregory regarding his conversations with the team. "I was a little upset that the numbers came out. I understand it's a negotiation tactic. Put pressure on me. Turn the fans against me, turn the media on me. That part of it I didn't like."

In April, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed the team offered the star slugger a deal that would've paid him $213.5 million in new money over seven years.

Judge's comments now echo his reaction shortly after the negotiations became public. He told reporters the situation was "something I felt like was private between my team and the Yankees."

"I'm just disappointed because I think I’ve been vocal about wanting to be a Yankee for life," he said. "I want to bring a championship back to New York. I want to do it for the fans here. … Not getting that done right now, it stings. But I got a job to do on the field and I gotta shift my focus to that now and go play some ball."

Any frustration he felt toward the Yankees front office didn't bleed into his performance. The four-time All-Star had a contract year for the ages, hitting an American League-record 62 home runs and winning the AL's Most Valuable Player award.

Judge's feelings in the spring haven't precluded him from working with Cashman again toward a new contract that would bring him back to the Big Apple. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the Yankees "have an offer on the table in the neighborhood of eight years and $300 million and could increase it."

For now, the San Francisco Giants are the Bronx Bombers' only competition. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported Monday that "no prominent mystery team has emerged."

On the heels of his historic season, Time magazine named New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge its athlete of the year for 2022 on Tuesday.

Aaron Judge (@TheJudge44)—who set a new American League home-run record earlier this year—is TIME’s 2022 Athlete of the Year: https://t.co/4XNGWvH32x pic.twitter.com/z6APx89FGG

— TIME (@TIME) December 6, 2022

Judge smashed 62 home runs for the Bronx Bombers, breaking the single-season American League record of 61 set by Yankees outfielder Roger Maris in 1961.

By virtue of his 62 homers, 131 RBI, 133 runs scored and .311 batting average, Judge was named AL MVP for the first time, and he is now in line to land one of the biggest contracts in MLB history in free agency.

With Judge leading the way, the Yankees won their first AL East title since 2019 with a 99-63 record, and they defeated the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series of the playoffs.

That marked the Yanks' deepest playoff run since 2019, although they were swept out of the American League Championship Series by the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros.

Judge turned down a contract offer from the Yankees prior to the start of the 2022 season, and that proved to be one of the best decisions of his career, as the 6'7" slugger had a year for the ages.

In an interview with Time, Judge divulged that he wasn't a fan of the fact that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the media that he turned down a seven-year, $213 million offer.

"We kind of said, 'Hey, let's keep this between us,' Judge said. "I was a little upset that the numbers came out. I understand it's a negotiation tactic. Put pressure on me. Turn the fans against me, turn the media on me. That part of it I didn't like."

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Yankees and San Francisco Giants are believed to be the top two suitors for Judge. The Giants are reportedly being "ultra-aggressive" in their pursuit of Judge, but the Yankees remain in talks with him as well.

SNY's Andy Martino reported that the Yankees are aware it will likely take a nine-year offer to retain the 30-year-old Judge.

It was previously reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan that the Yankees made Judge an offer "in the neighborhood" of $300 million over eight years.

The Yankees have a lot of offensive talent coming up through their prospect pipeline in Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza and Jasson Dominguez, but they can ill afford to lose Judge.

He is a four-time All-Star and arguably the most feared hitter in the game, which in turn makes the rest of the Yankee lineup that much more dangerous.

Judge is a franchise-altering player, and given what he accomplished in 2022, there is little doubt he deserves to be recognized as the athlete of the year.