The New York Yankees have one primary goal this offseason: re-sign Aaron Judge by any means necessary. With a massive contract extension in the works, Yankees executive Hal Steinbrenner revealed the message he had for Judge ahead of free agency. Via Pete Caldera, Steinbrenner told Judge that the Yankees would be able to facilitate his lucrative extension while also making other significant moves during the offseason.
“We have plenty of ability to make (your contract) happen and still have money to make other things happen too,” Steinbrenner said to the Yankees' free-agent outfielder.
The Yankees backed those comments up by re-signing Anthony Rizzo on a two-year deal, $34 million deal. Keeping the veteran first baseman and close friend of Judge in the Bronx could help the team's chances of bringing Judge back, too. There's more work to be done, but the early action indicates that the Yankees are going to do whatever it takes to retain Judge and have a squad ready to contend in place around him.
Ultimately, however, it'll be the money that does the talking. But Hal Steinbrenner's message to Judge indicates that the Yankees will not shy away from meeting the superstar's demands after his historic 2022 campaign. Yankees fans are holding their breath as they await the results of the negotiations between Judge and the organization, but they shouldn't expect a resolution any time soon.
Caldera indicates that the two sides are still weeks away from approaching a deal, so it'll be quite a while until something (if anything) comes to fruition.
Last year in the Bronx, Aaron Judge slashed .311/.425/.686 with 62 home runs, 131 RBI, and a 10.6 WAR.
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