Aaron Judge is staying with the New York Yankees – and not coming home to Northern California – according to multiple reports.
Judge is in agreement with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million deal, ESPN and other outlets reported Wednesday morning. The contract, a new record for a position player in terms of average annual value, was pending a physical.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network first reported that Judge was staying in the Bronx, saying the reigning American League MVP spurned more lucrative offers elsewhere because he wanted to remain with the Yankees.
The Giants were in hot pursuit of Judge, the winter’s biggest free agent prize, and a Northern California native who was coming off a 62-home run season with the Yankees.
Judge, 30, was born and raised in Linden, located just outside Stockton. This past season, to go with his MLB-best home run total, Judge hit .311 with 131 RBI to go with an OPS of 1.111.
For his career, Judge, a Fresno State product, has 220 home runs, 497 RBI, and an OPS of .977.
Just before opening day last year, Judge turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million offer from the Yankees, betting on himself to get a more lucrative contract.
Now, with his new deal, the 6-foot-7 Judge will earn $40 million per season, the highest AAV in the major leagues for a position player. The size of the contract trails only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the biggest in baseball history.
Source confirms: Aaron Judge in agreement with Yankees, nine years, $360M. First: @JonMorosi.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2022
The Giants were believed to be the team that had the best chance of prying Judge away from the New York Yankees, the franchise he has played for his entire seven-year MLB career.
Judge visited San Francisco the week before Thanksgiving and has an offer in hand “believed to be (in the) $360M neighborhood,” Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network reported.
Judge, as of Tuesday, was believed to be en route to the winter meetings in San Diego.
Staff writer Evan Webeck and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Please check back for updates to this story.
