The Giants haven’t hid their interest in free agent slugger Aaron Judge, but there’s a growing sense within the industry that they’ve surfaced as a legitimate contender to pry him away from the Yankees — the only MLB team Judge has known.
MLB Network’s Jon Morosi provided an update on Judge Thursday, describing the Giants as a “very realistic possibility.”
“This is not a Yankees at 70% likelihood and the Giants at 30 (percent). I think that we are very close to 50-50, where if the Giants really step up and get that AAV up closer to $40 million a year, there’s a legitimate chance that Aaron Judge becomes a San Francisco Giant,” Morosi said on MLB Network Hot Stove.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported this week that Yankees’ latest offer to Judge is “in the neighborhood” of eight years and $300 million. That would put Judge’s annual average value at around $37.5 million — surpassing Mike Trout’s record of $35.5 million among position players.
That Yankees offer is on the table, but it’s unclear if there’s room to increase it. The Giants, who enter 2023 roughly $100 million below the luxury tax threshold, could offer more money, and even more years, to outbid New York.
Money aside, the Giants offer Judge a chance to return to Northern California, where he’s from. Judge grew up in Linden, California, rooting for Rich Aurilia and the Giants.
The Yankees, meanwhile, can dangle the rare distinction of a captaincy to Judge. There have been only 15 Yankees captains in the franchise’s history, including Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Ron Guidry, Thurmon Munson, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.
New York also boasts, at least on paper, a more playoff-ready roster for Judge in 2023. The Yankees won 99 games last year and reached the American League Championship Series while San Francisco finished .500. The contrast in talent — independent Judge — may be overstated though, as Fangraphs ZiPS projections consider the Yankees just two wins better than SF going into 2023.
Judge is one of several high-profile free agents to remain unsigned heading into this weekend’s annual winter meetings. His decision, whenever it may come, will serve as an inflection point on an offseason defined thus far by stagnation on the market.