Surging Judge coy on his price
Since turning down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million extension offer prior to Opening Day, Aaron Judge has played at an MVP level, capped most recently by his walk-off homer to beat the Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
Asked by The Post after the Yankees’ latest victory, a 5-3 win Wednesday afternoon over the Blue Jays, if his price tag had gone up, Judge laughed and said: “We’ll see. We’ll see.”
Judge has impressed Brian Cashman so far.
“He’s been great,’’ the general manager said before the game. “That’s no surprise, because he is great.”
Judge insisted his contract situation isn’t impacting his play.
“I’m just doing what I do,’’ Judge said.
And it hasn’t provided any added motivation.
“Not at all,’’ Judge said. “When you play here, there’s always pressure. I’ve been dealing with it for six or seven years now. It’s part of it: contract, no contract, fans being upset. I’ve dealt with it all. With this group, we have no time for me to think of my situation. We’re trying to win.”
Both sides have agreed not to discuss any potential negotiations publicly — including a potential arbitration date.
The Yankees offered $17 million for this season, and Judge’s camp countered with $21 million.
Because of the transaction freeze caused by the MLB lockout in the offseason, arbitration cases will be heard during the regular season.
The in-season hearing could add tension between the two sides. The Yankees and Dellin Betances had a contentious backand-forth when the Yankees won that arbitration case during the spring of 2017.
If nothing changes before the end of the season, Judge will be a free agent for the first time.
Judge made a bet on himself when he decided to set an Opening Day deadline on extension talks, meaning there would be no negotiating for a long-term deal during the season.
Asked about the possibility of discussions happening during the season, Cashman said Wednesday: “We’re not going to talk about [any negotiations] going forward. I’m not saying [we’re not going to talk], but we’re not gonna talk about it [publicly].”
After those negotiations before the season failed to result in a deal, Cashman made public the Yankees’ offer — an unusual move by the organization, which he said he did in that instance for “transparency purposes.”
Later that day, Judge expressed his displeasure at the numbers being disclosed.
“It’s something I felt like was private between my team and the Yankees,” Judge said at the time. “[Cashman] has a job to do”
Cashman said he was unaware of Judge being upset.
“I’m not aware of any of that,’’ Cashman said Wednesday. “His camp knew all about it, so I assume he knew all about it. It certainly doesn’t feel like [he’s upset] when I’ve interacted with him since.”