Contract situation hasn't hurt Aaron Judge one bit
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge watches his three-run home run during the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals Friday, April 29, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Yankees and Aaron Judge failed to agree on a contract extension before the season. But both parties agreed on one item: The failure to reach an agreement would not impact Judge in the least on the field once the regular season began.
It hasn’t.
Judge is on an early-season tear, entering Saturday night’s game against the Royals with five homers and 11 RBIs in his last seven games. Judge, who was not in the starting lineup Saturday night, was hitting .293 with six homers and a .961 OPS, and the scary part for opposing pitchers is that he doesn’t feel locked in yet.
“I’m still trying to get there, trying to grind it out,’’ Judge said after hitting a three-run homer Friday night in a 12-2 victory over the Royals. “All I’m really focused on is getting on base for the guys behind me. We’ve got some boppers behind me doing their thing. My job is simple: Try to touch first base and let the other guys do their thing. “
The numbers have shown Judge, who has an on-base percentage of .361, more than doing his thing. But here is where Judge resembles the player he’s often compared to: Derek Jeter.
The comparisons aren’t always accurate, but Jeter, when things were going well for him on the field, typically deflected credit elsewhere in the clubhouse. Second, even in good times, there is always something to work on. Something to get better at. The game is humbling.
In discussing what he needs to work on and why he feels he’s still in the “grind,” Judge used a word Jeter often did.
“Staying consistent,” he said. “[Have been] swinging at some pitches out of the zone, just not trusting it. I just need to trust it and I’ll be where I need to be.”
Aaron Boone also used the word “grinding” in talking about Judge, then added of his numbers: “It just speaks to how good of a player he is.”
Judge's decision to turn down the Yankees’ $230 million extension offer just before the season opener April 7 was the classic case of a player betting on himself. The early returns suggest that Judge, who can become a free agent after the season, made a very good bet and will reap the rewards of that — if not from the Yankees, then from someone else.
Not that Judge necessarily saw it in those terms when he rejected the offer.
"Every day is a gamble," he said after the Yankees’ Opening Day victory over the Red Sox. "Very few people get this opportunity to talk about an extension. So me getting this opportunity is something special, and I appreciate the Yankees wanting to do that. But I don't mind going to free agency. I'm not really going to look at all the negatives. I will just focus on what I need to do on the field and everything else will take care of itself."
Boone was never concerned about the contract — or lack of contract, as it turned out — having a deleterious effect on Judge.
"I think a lot of you know Aaron well enough. He’s the ultimate teammate," Boone said just before the start of the season. “He’s probably the biggest leader in that room, and he’s an amazing player that wants to go out there and be great and wants nothing more than to be a part of a championship club. There’s no doubt in my mind whatever the outcome is, nothing will change in the way Aaron goes about things."
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.
