Aaron Judge. I am just beyond disappointed. Are you? Did you read our skipper's piece on Saturday: SELFISH JUDGE FEELS SNUBBED BY YANKEES & NO ONE CARES? If you haven't hit pause on this piece and go do it. PAUSE.
Now fans at the Stadium showed Judge how they felt when he was met with boos instead of his usual echoing applause. But it is not Judge's fault that he wants more. It is not his fault he is selfish. It is all the guys that came ahead of him, demanding the dollar instead living the dream. And it is enough to make any fan sick.
As MLB.com wrote, "When you look at the list of highest average annual values and say that the proposed $30.5 million -- the highest in Yankees history -- would be “only” 12th, it’s worth noting how many of those ahead of him signed earlier in their 20s -- or, in the case of Max Scherzer, for only three years. Just last year, George Springer, then 31 and comparable to Judge in terms of accomplishments, received six years and $150 million from the Blue Jays. Teams have made it exceptionally clear how much they value youth."
And by youth, they mean 30 and younger. Big dollars have been flashed in young players' eyes—eager, greedy eyes. It is like they forget how they got there or that they should be paid for getting here. But once you cross over to the 30+ bucket, your value drops as with Judge. Plus Judge's trips to the IL have been frequent. In 2018 and 2019 he played 112, and 102 games respectively. He played half the 60 games in 2020. Last year was the first time he crossed over 140 games since 2017. He is a crowd pleaser and runs maker when he is hot and in the lineup. When he is not, he is a dud. And the Yankees want to pay him for his past and future service based on what they have seen and what they believe he can provide. Nothing wrong with that.
Brian Cashman told us exactly what the Yankees were willing to pay, ahead of Judge's deadline of Opening Day. The Yankees "had offered seven years and $213.5 million atop the $17 million it offered for the 2022 season -- making the entire package eight years and approximately $230 million." Fair deal, right? But Judge simply turned his snobby nose up at it and declined. I would love your take on this line from Casey's piece yesterday, "Judge came back to the media and said “I’m not afraid of searching for a job.’’ In the days of George, that statement will get you traded." I would love to see that through some sort of simulation—Boss George would have sat Aaron Judge's ass right down and said, "we don't do that here at the Yankees."
"If it sounds like we think Judge will have a hard time topping this offer on the open market, we do, because teams have made it increasingly clear that deals stretching a decade or more are reserved for the youngest stars (like Wander Franco, 20; Fernando Tatis Jr., 22; Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, each 26), since deals that long for players already in their 30s (like Albert Pujols, at 32, or Miguel Cabrera, at 31) have generally been poor investments for team success. (For the team, anyway; they were well-deserved rewards for superstar players.)," reported MLB.com.
No one is indispensible. As a Yankee fan, I worried about what the Yankees would do without anchor and Hit Man, Donnie Baseball. Guess what, they survived. Derek Jeter, same thing. The Yankees kept growing, kept moving forward and so did we as fans. I mean we can go all the way back to Joe DiMaggio who by the way would NOT be snubbing his nose at any opportunity to play or even throw out a first pitch. Check out this piece, APRIL 9, YANKEE STADIUM OR BUST, earlier this spring about Joe D and his love of the game.
Anthony Rizzo said something about Judge and contract extensions more broadly earlier this week which I have not been able to get passed. I am paraphrasing here, but he said, there is no loyalty in baseball. You just don't know what is going to happen. Sometimes you do. In Judge's case, there is loyalty. The Yankees met Judge's deadline with an offer. Judge publicly stated he wanted to stay a Yankee. But his actions are contradictory. Was there loyalty when Freddie Freeman left Atlanta for dollar signs in Los Angeles? And Freeman at least brought a championship to the Braves. Has Judge brought one to NY? I think you know that answer.
Does Judge deserve more? No. He's lucky that he got what he did. He is one step away from an injury, unfortunately. We all are. Take what you are offered, and stay a Yankee or go and get another job and hope you can be what you have been to New York, and its fans somewhere else. Good luck with that.
The grass is always greener as they say. But is it? You have a good thing, Judge. Too bad all you see are dollar signs instead of the tremendous gift you have been given just to be a baseball player, playing for the best sports franchise in the world.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
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