The Yankees and Aaron Judge continued to negotiate up to the opening day deadline of the outfielder to complete an extension after the team had already offered to make him the highest-paid positional player by annual value in franchise history, The Post has learned.
The Yankees have bid more than $27.5 million, the annual value of the 10-year, $275 million contract Alex Rodriguez signed with the team.
That would put him north of Yoenis Cespedes, leaving Judge behind only Mike Trout ($35.54 million) and Mookie Betts ($30.4 million) for the all-time greatest outfielder. The Yankees almost certainly won’t exceed Trout’s annual value, but it’s always possible they would push further — perhaps toward or over Betts for a player Hal Steinbrenner has told his lieutenants was keen to sign would like.
The judges’ camp may consider the Rodriguez average archaic since it was agreed upon after the 2006 season. Judge also sells that not only is he one of the game’s elite players, but he’s also the best and most popular native Yankee since Jeter. Therefore, the expectation that went into that negotiation was that the Slugger would not only shoot for the highest-paid Yankees positional player of all-time by annual value, but the highest-paid player by at least annual value in the sport.
The teams were still in touch for hours before Gerrit Cole was scheduled to throw the first pitch at 1:00 p.m. East to start the Yankee season against the Red Sox. Judge is entering his walk year, so he could be a free agent after the 2022 season without a renewal.
Aaron Judge and the Yankees are still in talks for a long-term extension. USA TODAY Sports
Currently, the Yankees and Judge haven’t even agreed on a 2022 contract. They could either settle, settle within an extension, or go to arbitration. The judge asked for $21 million, and the Yankees countered with $17 million.
The Yankees’ current record deal averages $36 million a year as part of Coles’ $324 million 9-year pact.