The New York Yankees have offered their biggest star a long-term contract extension. The Yankees offered Judge a multi-year contract with a total guarantee of over $200 million. according to MLB Network.
The contract would make him the highest-paid full-year position player in team history. According to the NY Post, the Yankees bid more than $27.5 million, which would make Judge’s AAV the largest of any outfielder behind Angels’ Mike Trout and Dodgers’ Mookie Betts.
Ahead of the Yankees’ opening day on Friday judges to reporters that he doesn’t have an update on the extension negotiations but said today remains his deadline for a deal because he doesn’t want to negotiate during the season.
Shortly after he reported for spring training, the judge indicated that he would not negotiate a contract after opening day. “I’ll stick to that deadline. I think it’s best for both parties so they can focus on what they need to do and I can focus on what I need to do, what’s on the field. If we don’t do it close, what’s the point of in-season communication?” he recently told Dan Martin of the New York Post.
“We will have an update for you,” Richter told reporters before the game. “I have one game to focus on right now. So when it happens, it happens. If not, we’ll see each other after the game and we’ll talk about it.”
If Judge approves that deal, the Yankees would sign five players through at least 2025: Judge, Gerrit Cole, Aaron Hicks, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton. Others like Josh Donaldson, Joey Gallo, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jordan Montgomery, Anthony Rizzo, Luis Severino and Jameson Taillon can become free agents in either the upcoming off-season or the next. New York has some roster turnovers ahead of it.
Judge, who turns 30 later this month, hit a .287/.382/.544 batting line with 39 homers en route to a fourth-place finish in 2021 AL MVP voting. When he’s on the field, Judge always has performed well at elite level, although staying on the field was at times a problem. Injuries limited him to 242 out of a possible 384 regular-season games of 2018-20, or 63 percent.
The Yankees were unable to agree on a 2022 contract with Judge before the arbitration salary filing deadline last month. He was targeting a salary of $21 million while the team submitted $17 million. The new extension would eliminate the need for an arbitration hearing.
Last season, the Yankees went 92-70 and lost the AL Wild Card Game to rival Red Sox. They’ve been in the postseason for each of the last five years but haven’t progressed past the ALCS.