Aaron Judge is arguably the face of the New York Yankees and he's made it clear time and time again that he wants to stay in the Bronx for his entire career. When they offered him a seven-year, $213 million extension prior to Opening Day though, the slugger turned it down in the hopes of securing a longer-term deal like Mike Trout or Mookie Betts.
If there is one man who understands where Judge is coming from, it's former Yankees infielder Robinson Cano. He received a similar offer from New York, turned it down, and eventually inked a 10-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. The veteran offered some insight on Judge's situation.
“A lot of the people, most of the people, even me, say ‘That’s a lot of money,” Mets infielder Robinson Canó said. “But he’s the one who knows what he’s looking for.”
“This is the only chance he has to get his max,” Canó said. “He has been great for the city and the Yankees. He deserves to get what he wants . . . At the end of the day, all these years, he’s given a discount to the team. He wants to stay there. He just has to focus and play and hopefully have a great season this year.”
Just like Judge, Cano wanted to play for the Yankees only. But, his plans changed when they didn't offer him what he desired. The same could happen with Judge because as he did say last week, the outfielder will speak to all 30 teams in Free Agency and, the Bronx Bombers.
There is always risk with giving a player a nine, ten-year extension, especially with Judge's injury history across the last few seasons. But, the 29-year-old has proved his worth since breaking into the big leagues in 2016.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the winter.
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