Aaron Judge Is Officially Introduced As New York Yankees $360M Captain For The Next Decade With A Goal To Win “Multiple Championships”

Aaron Judge Is Officially Introduced As New York Yankees $360M Captain For The Next Decade With A Goal To Win “Multiple Championships”

by | Dec 21, 2022 | THE LEAD OFF

The Yankees officially introduced Aaron Judge as the captain of a new era in the Bronx on Wednesday in a press conference aired live on MLB Network. Judge leads the Yankees into the next nine years with hopes of leading them back to the top of baseball’s food chain several times over the next decade.

 

 

 

 

 


“I’ve had the fortunate pleasure to be a part of this franchise for a long time,” said Yankees Senior VP & GM Brian Cashman who has served in a general manager capacity since 1998 and just inked his own deal that will keep him in his leadership role until 2026.  

 

 

Part of that history has been a lot of great players have come through here and been a part of this storied franchise…if you’re talking about a homegrown player, it is a rare occurrence to be in a position to sign, draft, develop and ultimately retain a player throughout his entire career and today we are excited to re-introduce Aaron Judge as part of that legacy.” 

 

 

Judge was flanked by his wife and Hal Steinbrenner, (Yankees Managing General Partner) one on side and on the other side of the podium was the rest of the Yankees brass including manager Aaron Boone, who was more relieved than anything else that his history-making MLBbro was back in the fold long term. 

 

Thats one spot in the lineup he doesn’t have to worry about – barring injury – for a long time. 

 

 

“People have asked me over and over what was it like the day before we were able to reach an agreement (with Judge),” Boone said at the presser. 

 

“And I’ll put it in laymen’s terms for ya…That feeling if you lost your cellphone, your keys, your wallet and your ipad, gone…and the next morning someone knocks on the door and says, “Were you looking for this?”

 

 

That comment got a chuckle out of Judge, but the $400M offer from the Giants was no laughing matter. “But in all seriousness,” Boone continued, “we got our guy.”

 

 

Hal Steinbrenner said he never considered Judge a free agent – until it was obvious that he was highly-coveted, and the market was going to be kind to the 62-homer hitter.

 

 

 


“I was wrong,” Hal said. “Aaron was a free agent and there were numerous clubs that wanted him in a big way to be a part of their organization.”

 

 

After Hal presented Judge with his new No. 99 Yankees jersey as a $360M man, the Paul Bunyan of Baseball stepped to the podium and thanked the Yankees organization for believing in his talents back in 2013 when they signed him for a $1.8M bonus.  

 

 

“A little kid out of Fresno State coming to the Big Apple. It was a blessing and an honor,” Judge, the MLBbro 2022 Player of the Year said on Wednesday. 

 

 

He reflected on the history and an opportunity to carve his own niche in the most storied franchise in American sports. 

 

 

“Getting a chance to be a captain of the Yankees now, what an honor that is,” Judge added. “I look back at the list of (Yankees captains)…Thurman Munson, Lou Gehrig, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly. Not only great baseball players, but great ambassadors of the game and the New York Yankees.” 

“Im here to embrace every single obstacle and continue to lead this team and lead this city to not one, but multiple championships.” 

 

 

We heard another superstar in the NBA once say something similar and he delivered. LeBron James was a bit more extravagant and boastful with his championship hopes once he shocked the world and joined the Miami Heat, but he did win multiple championships. If Judge can do the same, Yankees fans won’t be mad at all. It’s been since 2009 since the Bronx tasted championship glory.

 

 

 

 

He won’t be able to do it by himself but having him in the fold is a scenario the Yankees can live with.

 

Can the New York Yankees Hold On To MLBbro Aaron Judge?

Can the New York Yankees Hold On To MLBbro Aaron Judge?

by | Nov 2, 2022 | THE THREE SPOT

Next up for New York, after the team’s complete offensive collapse against the Houston Astros in the postseason, are questions bigger than what happened to the bats. And one of those is– Can the New York Yankees hold on to MLBbro Aaron Judge? 

WFAN brought in baseball pundit Steve Somers to give his opinion about what the Yankees should do with MLBbros Judge and Aaron Hicks if the franchise wants to make it out of the American League playoffs and get back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. 

Steve Somers on Aaron Hicks:

“One thing you have to do is get rid of [Aaron] Hicks and get rid of [Josh] Donaldson, Steve said. “Try to eat some of that money and get rid of him. He’s a strikeout waiting to happen.”

Steve Somers on Aaron Judge: 

“I don’t see Judge going anywhere,” Steve said. “Not San Francisco, not Boston, and he’s not going to the Mets. He’s the face of the Yankees and he’s a popular guy. He’s the leader of the team, arguably gonna be the next captain of the team. He’s gonna be MVP. He ought to go into Hal Steinbrenner’s office and say, ‘Hey partner.” 

Since Aaron Judge is supposed to be the “no-brainer” of this situation, let’s discuss it. Somers’ take on Judge sure seems rock solid on the surface, but is it?

 

 

Hal Steinbrenner sure didn’t think of Judge as a partner when the negotiations only went as far as a $19 million per year in the offseason. The Yankees decided to play chicken with Judge, and they lost…big time!

The Yankees are notorious of late, for balking against handing out long-term deals and are trying to move away from their reputation of overpaying players. They used injuries and age to lower the market price on Judge despite a highly productive 2021. 

In 2021, Aaron finished fourth in MVP voting with 39 home runs, 98 RBI, 89 runs scored and won the Silver Slugger award by carrying the team into the playoffs (Barely!) in 148 games. In 2022, despite ongoing distractions around his contract situation, he still put on one of the greatest offensive seasons in Yankees and MLB history, breaking Roger Maris’ American League record for home runs with 62.

Not only that, his all-around play at the plate and the field saved a 15.5 game collapse when the division title should have been in the bag.

Aaron Judge made a request to get a deal done before Opening Day with the understanding that he wanted to be a Yankee for a long time. Maybe if GM Brian Cashman had tacked on $40-$50 million earlier this season or in Spring Training, this conversation never makes the news cycle. But now the hottest Yankee since Derek Jeter is worth $100 million or more than the previous offer for him to even pay attention.

The last offer given to Judge was seven years at $213.5 million before the arbitration phase. Now is not the time for the Yankees to get cheap, even though the payroll is off the charts. The team is already locked in to close to $200 million in guaranteed money (Hence the Somers statements on Hicks!) with an eye on certain luxury tax levels.

Where Does Judge Go?

The San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers (a team with no issues with spending money!), Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals are all potential teams that can supply the amount of money that Aaron Judge wants. The bidding war alone could burn up any money needed to build around him. 

Now there has to be decisions made on both sides. It’s no longer Judge believing that his salary should be at the top of the MLB money list. Now, his teammates do too. 

 

 

But if that happens, our MLBbro has to understand that the bank is closed for help in the journey for a championship run. The financial constraints that signing Judge creates for any team that signs him is also a concern. 

Even though the Yankees are a multi-billion-dollar franchise, this is still a business. The Yankees have to decide on one of the biggest investments in the history of baseball and Aaron Judge has to figure out how to make good on a possible $300 million bag if it comes.