Aaron Judge made the Yankees sweat until the last possible moment.
Last Tuesday morning, with rumors swirling about Judge’s future, Time Magazine published an interview with the slugger in conjunction with naming him its “Athlete of the Year.” In that interview, the 30-year-old expressed displeasure about Yankees general manager Brian Cashman revealing before the season began that Judge turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million contract offer.
“We kind of said, Hey, let’s keep this between us,” Judge told Time. “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.”
Aaron Judge was named Time’s “Athlete of the Year” on Dec. 6, 2022. Martin Schoeller for TIME
That left the Yankees wondering if Judge’s days in pinstripes were over.
“I had that feeling that we were going to lose him,” an unnamed Yankees official told ESPN.
Despite the sentiment and the hullabaloo surrounding his visit with his childhood Giants, Judge told owner Hal Steinbrenner he wanted to be a Yankee, as The Post’s Jon Heyman previously reported, and Steinbrenner closed the nine-year, $360 million contract while on vacation in Italy, as The Post’s Joel Sherman reported. ESPN reported that Yankees manager Aaron Boone suggested to Judge the day the Time piece came out that he phone Steinbrenner.
Thus capped a stressful free-agency process for the Yankees, who, according to Sherman, believed the Padres would go to $400 million for 10 years as a late entrant and that the Giants would mirror any offer.
Brian Cashman (l.) talks to Aaron Judge (r.) before a Yankees-Red Sox game in Boston on July 8, 2022. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Even the Mets, according to ESPN, discussed Judge internally and met with Judge’s agent, Page Odle, at the GM Meetings in November. The Mets told Judge’s camp, however, they were focused on starting pitching, per the report. That meeting came after an SNY report said the Mets didn’t plan to fight the Yankees for Judge, which prompted a collusion probe by MLB; the league cleared all parties.