Brian Cashman knows Aaron Judge is going to make a fortune in the offseason

Aaron Judge turned down a $213.5 million extension offer from the Yankees just before Opening Day, believing that with a standout season, he could do far better as a free agent.

And the man who will be making that offer on behalf of the club knows that if the Yankees are going to keep the face of their franchise, the price tag is going to be far higher than that.

“He’s a great player who bet on himself, and it’s the all-time best bet, right?” general manager Brian Cashman said late Sunday morning.

Though he’s repeatedly said he doesn’t see it that way, Judge shoved all of his chips to the center of the table in turning down the offer and now is in line to win big in the offseason.

Judge, the heavy favorite to be named league MVP, hit 62 homers — breaking Roger Maris’ 61-year-old record of 61 and setting American League and franchise records — and drove in 131 runs, tied with the Mets’ Pete Alonso for the MLB lead. He just missed out on winning the AL Triple Crown; his .311 average was second to the Twins’ Luis Arraez, who batted .316.

“There’s a pot of gold there. It’s yet to be determined what the gold [will be], how much it weighs, but it’s a pot of gold, no doubt about it,” Cashman said with a wry smile of the jackpot Judge is likely to receive. “So good for him. It was already a big pot, and, obviously, it’ll be bigger [than the pre-Opening Day offer], but he’s put himself in an amazing position to have a lot of choices.”

Judge, who was not pleased that the Yankees made their original offer to him public, has said many times in recent years that his desire is to remain “a Yankee for life.” That also is the goal of the franchise, though those counting on Judge to provide a hometown discount are deluding themselves.

“Clearly, we’d like to win the day on that discussion [signing Judge], and that’s obviously for another day,” Cashman said. “But we said that before the season, we’ve said that many times during the season, if I need to say it again, I’ll say it again — yeah, we’d love to have Aaron Judge back as a New York Yankee. But that’s all for another day.”

Of Judge’s 2022 season, Cashman said: “It’s a remarkable accomplishment. It was very special to watch. First and foremost, for his mom and dad and his wife, his immediate family. But [it] obviously captivated the entire baseball world. And doing it while you’re on a team that’s winning 99 games and competing for a postseason berth and for a division title just made it that much more special for this franchise and for our fans. Really, it was a great gift that he gave to the industry and to our fan base, what he was able to accomplish. It’s amazing to watch.”

But not tremendously surprising, either. Judge hit a then-rookie-record 52 homers in 2017, when he was unanimously named the AL Rookie of the Year.

“Obviously, he was healthy [this season], and you know what he’s capable of when he’s healthy,” Cashman said. “He’s always putting up huge numbers when he stays healthy, and that was shown [this year]. He’s stayed healthy now for a number of years.”

Does Cashman see it as possible that Judge will play his home games somewhere other than the Bronx next year?

“When they [players] earned the right to free agency back in the ’70s . . . that was a game-changer,” Cashman said. “And since that time, many a player [has] left and gone somewhere else. So free agency gives people the ability to have control over decisions of what’s best for them and their family and where they want to be moving forward based on a lot of information that they’ll be gathering.

“So I think that history since the ’70s and since the advent of free agency shows that players have changed organizations. But certainly we’ve always competed to try to keep what we would like to keep and in some cases we’re successful, in other cases we’re not. We always try to compete to try to take free agents from elsewhere, and sometimes we’ve had a lot of success there and other times we haven’t. But it’s part of the market process. But again, that’s for another day.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.