Back in session
Judge, Yankees reportedly reach $360M, 9-year deal
SAN DIEGO — Aaron Judge has issued his ruling: Court remains in session in the Bronx.
Judge is staying with the New York Yankees on a $360 million, nine-year contract, according to a person familiar with baseball’s biggest free agent deal ever.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the AL
MVP’s contract had not been publicly announced.
New York general manager Brian Cashman declined to confirm the agreement. But he said he was “optimistic that we’re in a good place,” and he credited Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner for the team’s position while making reference to Hal’s late father, George.
“I’ve been here a long time,” said Cashman, who has been the Yankees’ GM since 1998, “and I know how George Steinbrenner did business and how he went about doing business, in recruiting free agents and retaining free agents, and he was intimately involved. And I saw a lot of that in this process, too.”
Cashman said he didn’t get any sleep Tuesday night. He texted with Judge, and Hal Steinbrenner and manager Aaron Boone spoke with the slugger on the phone.
“I wanted to talk to him and make sure he knew, certainly, how I felt about him, but how we felt about him, too,” Boone said.
Judge, who hit an American League-record 62 homers last season, will earn $40 million per year, the highest average annual payout for a position player. The contract trails only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers for biggest in baseball history. Trout and Betts were already under contract when they signed those deals.
The Yankees made a long-term offer to Judge before last season that was worth $213.5 million over seven years from 2023-29. But the outfielder turned it down in the hours before opening day in April.
The 6-foot-7 Judge bet on himself — and won.
Judge surpassed Roger Maris’ AL home run mark while powering New York to an AL East title. He also