Yankees legend Derek Jeter urges his old team to tie down Aaron Judge for 2023 and beyond
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Yankees legend Derek Jeter urges his old team to tie up Aaron Judge for 2023 and beyond…as unsigned superstar assesses his options with a potential $300 million contract ahead
Yankees hero Derek Jeter has urged his former team to do everything they can to tie up Aaron Judge after he took office at the end of the 2022 season.
Judge was the runaway player of the year, hitting 62 home runs in a magical season season – the most ever in the American League.
As it stands, he has hung up his pinstripes and is assessing his options for 2023, after initially turning down the Yankees’ seven-year $213.5 million offer before Opening Day.
Aaron Judge had a record season for the New York Yankees, hitting 62 home runs
Derek Jeter (right, pictured in Game 3 of the World Series) wants Judge to stay pinstriped
Speaking to TMZ this week, Jeter was asked if he’d like to see Judge back in the Bronx in 2023, and he replied, “Of course I’m a Yankee fan.”
It has been reported that the San Francisco Giants are preparing a war chest in hopes of returning Judge to the East Coast where he is from, but the Yankees will also likely make a bigger bid in the wake of Judge’s almost miraculous season.
Last week, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner admitted he spoke with Judge more than once to get his point across.
“I’ve had more than one conversation with Aaron since the end of the season,” Steinbrenner said in an interview with YES Network’s Meredith Markovits.
‘I’ll leave it at that. A very positive conversation.’
Pictured, Judge kisses his wife Samantha at the New York Marathon finish line last week
Hal Steinbrenner revealed that he has spoken to Judge about the future on more than one occasion
Judge may have had his last at bat as a Yankee, with the likes of the Giants swirling this winter
When asked how confident he thinks Judge would be in the pinstripes next season, Steinbrenner replied with relative ambiguity.
“I made it clear to him that that is our wish. He means a lot to this organization and I made it clear to him that we will do everything we can to make that happen.”
General Manager Brian Cashman has also given the media his take on Judge’s future, admitting that the slugger will “dictate the dance moves” as a free agent.
He added, “If you could wave a magic wand, we’d secure Aaron Judge.”
It’s shaping up to be a massive off-season in Major League Baseball, after the likes of Jacob DeGrom, Carlos Correa, and Xander Bogaerts all turned down player options to join Judge in a star-studded free agent market.