Hal Steinbrenner: I've had 'more than one conversation' with Aaron Judge
Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) after he flys out in the third inning in Game 4 of the ALDS at Progressive Field on Oct. 16, 2022. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Saying he’s had “more than one conversation” with Aaron Judge since the Yankees’ season ended and characterizing those talks as “very positive,” managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said he’s committed to bringing the free-agent outfielder back to the Bronx.
“I have made it clear to him that is our wish,” Steinbrenner told the YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits in an interview scheduled to run on Monday. “He means a lot to this organization. And I’ve made it clear to him we are going to do everything we can to make that happen.”
Steinbrenner, under fire throughout much of the just-completed season from the fan base, did not provide details. That's not a surprise, given how private both parties seem intent on keeping negotiations.
“I have had more than one conversation with Aaron since the season ended,” said Steinbrenner, making his first public comments since the Yankees were swept by the Astros in the American League Championship Series. “I’ll leave it at that. Very positive conversation.”
Steinbrenner’s verbiage from the snippet of the YES interview that was released Friday is similar to that from spring training, when he expressed a desire for Judge to stay in pinstripes. “Judge is a very special player and a great Yankee,” he said in March.
At this week’s general managers’ meetings in Las Vegas, Brian Cashman acknowledged touching base with Judge’s representation regarding a new contract. That admission came Wednesday, a day after the GM said “no comment” when asked if he had made such contact.
Judge, who will turn 31 in April, is coming off a historic 2022 season. He hit an American League-record 62 homers, breaking the 61 hit by Roger Maris in 1961, and is expected to be named AL MVP this month.
Judge figures to do far better this offseason than the seven-year, $213.5 million extension offer he turned down from the Yankees just before Opening Day.
“He’s a great player who bet on himself, and it’s the all-time best bet, right?” Cashman said before the Yankees played the Guardians in the Division Series.
“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 of the jackpot Judge is likely to hit. “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 has never equivocated in his desire to stay — saying more than a few times, including this year, that he wants to be a Yankee “for life” — but he’s also indicated that being a free agent isn't something that scares him, either.
“I’ve been clear about that since I first wore the pinstripes,” Judge said at season’s end of remaining a Yankee. “But we couldn’t get something done before spring training and I’m a free agent and we’ll see what happens.”
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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