Yankees GM Brian Cashman on Aaron Judge contract talks: 'Stay tuned'
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge shares a laugh with teammates during a spring training baseball workout, Monday, March 14, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Credit: AP/John Raoux
TAMPA, Fla. — Aaron Judge has never equivocated on the matter.
"I want to be a Yankee for life," the rightfielder said after the Yankees’ 6-2 loss to the Red Sox last Oct. 5 in the American League wild-card game.
But in order to ensure that something close to that happens before Judge hits free agency after this season, the Yankees will have to sign him to a contract extension.
According to general manager Brian Cashman, the Yankees have not "engaged" Judge and his representatives regarding the topic yet, but he said that is "our intent."
"When that happens, I’m not going to say or predict, but we’re on the clock, obviously, between now and his free agency," Cashman said. "And if nothing gets done prior to free agency, it doesn’t mean [he won’t be back]. We’ve signed [our own] guys back as free agents, too. We’re the only team that can talk to him now, and at some point those conversations would happen or will happen, and we’ll try to keep it as private as we can."
When healthy, Judge — who will turn 30 on April 26 — without question is one of the best all-around players in the sport. He is coming off a 2021 season in which he hit .287 with 39 homers, 98 RBIs and a .916 OPS in 148 games. It was his first healthy year since 2017, his rookie season, when he hit 52 homers, drove in 114 runs and produced a 1.049 OPS in 155 games.
Though they plan to engage with Judge to get an idea of what he’s looking for, the Yankees could wait to see how 2022 plays out in terms of his health before talking really big dollars. Likewise, Judge could ask for the moon now and, in the likely event the Yankees don’t meet a big ask, gamble on himself that he will have a huge season and enter the free-agent market in prime position to land a megadeal.
"Our intent probably would be we’d like to have him back if we can, but like anything else, just like trades and free agency, you have to be on the same page and [find] common ground, and the only way to find that out is to have some conversations first and foremost," Cashman said. "Those will happen, we’d like to have them, but saying we’d like to have them and actually being able to complete something is a big difference."
Addressing a follow-up question about extension talks, Cashman said: "Ultimately, we have to make an overture, which we will do at some point, and then we have to factor in their shared information and see if there’s an opportunity that exists now or if we’ll have to wait until later, when there’s more competition. So, I guess, stay tuned."
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.
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