The New York Yankees' contract extension talks with superstar outfielder Aaron Judge hit a wall ahead of Opening Day. The club offered Judge a franchise record amount of money in terms of average annual salary, but the slugger rejected the proposal. Now, Judge will effectively become a free agent after this season, though the Yankee' plan is continue the contract talks following the season. It doesn't necessarily mean that Judge won't be back in pinstripes in future seasons, as the towering slugger is certainly using the upcoming season as leverage for offseason talks. Here's why that's a smart play by the Yankees' slugger.

2 Reasons Why Aaron Judge Is Smart To Reject Yankees' Offer

2. Judge will be playing with even more of a chip on his shoulder in 2022

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Aaron Judge has never played back-to-back full seasons in the big leagues. Coming off of his best season since 2017, Judge has had to listen to the narrative that, while he produced like one of the best hitters in the league, such seasons are few and far between for him. Not only that, but Judge has a perceived value of himself. He knows how much he feels he's worth in an extension and is not willing to budge off of that amount. If the Yankees, the only franchise Judge seemingly wants to play for, didn't match his expectations in a deal- which it seems like they didn't– then that has to be a motivating factor for him this season. A motivated Aaron Judge is a scary sight for the rest of the league.

1. Judge is blossoming into a well-rounded hitter

Everyone in baseball knows that Judge is a premier power hitter. In his first full season in the big leagues back in 2017, he clubbed 52 homers. Just last year, he belted 39 homers, his most in a season since his rookie year. The man possesses light-tower power and hits 500-foot home runs like it's nothing. However, The Judge made very important strides in another category this past season. Judge hit .287, a career-high in batting average, while shaving his strikeout rate down to a more manageable 25 percent, a career-low mark, per Statcast. Per Fangraphs, the Yankees slugger posted the highest contact rate of his career. Not only did Judge flirt with 40 homers, but he also cut down on the punchouts and turned himself into a more polished hitter. There's room for Judge to improve even more. What if the slugger posted an average above .300 while exceeding the 40-homer mark in 2022? It would be hard for the Yankees to justify not giving him a monster extension following a season like that. Judge is betting on himself by rejecting New York's extension ahead of Opening Day this year. If Judge stays on the field and produces the kind of numbers he's capable of, he will look like a very smart man during the offseason.