Hal Steinbrenner sounds prepared to do what it takes to keep Aaron Judge a Yankee.
The Yankees’ managing general partner said Tuesday he told Judge he wants him to stay in The Bronx and indicated money won’t prevent that from happening — at least to a point.
“We know where we’re at,” Steinbrenner said of the team’s payroll. “I can tell you, that’s not gonna stop us.”
Steinbrenner added in the conversations he’s had with Judge — including a single, face-to-face talk between the two — since the season ended, that he’s made it clear he wants to keep Judge a Yankee.
Speaking at the owners’ meetings at MLB headquarters in midtown, Steinbrenner said he made sure Judge knew the team has “the ability… to make this happen and still have money to make other things happen, too.”
He also included the caveat, “it depends what the number is, of course.”
Aaron Judge celebrates in the Yankees dugout during Game 3 of the ALDS against the Guardians on Oct. 15, 2022. Corey Sipkin
But the evidence was there shortly after Steinbrenner’s session with the media ended, when word came out the Yankees had agreed to a multi-year deal with Anthony Rizzo worth at least $40 million over two years plus an option, confirmed by The Post.
Steinbrenner noted the Yankees had the third-highest payroll in baseball last season and the two teams that spent more — the Dodgers and crosstown Mets — didn’t advance as far in the postseason.
As for the team’s spending this offseason, Steinbrenner said, “I don’t have an absolute payroll number in my head.”
Hal Steinbrenner in the dugout as the Yankees honor Derek Jeter’s induction into the Hall of Fame on Sept. 9, 2022. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The negotiations with Judge could very well take some time, as teams like his hometown Giants and the Dodgers figure to be interested, but Steinbrenner said he relayed to Judge a desire not to let the process drag out too long.
“Clearly, I’m not gonna be in a position — I can’t be in a position — to see players start to come off the board [in free agency] and trades start to be made [without a deal for Judge], and he understands that,’’ Steinbrenner said. “We broached the subject a bit. Both sides are really gonna work at this and do what we can to make it happen.”