New York Yankees star Aaron Judge had a stellar regular season that saw him hit .311 with 62 home runs (a new franchise and American League record) and 131 RBI.
However, he also hit .139/.184/.306 with two home runs and 15 strikeouts in nine postseason games for the Yanks.
Judge got some boos, as did all the team, and had to endure some harsh comments about his ability to perform in the playoffs.
It makes sense to wonder if he wants to return to MLB’s biggest pressure-cooker.
For his part, that answer is still yes, but he is open to landing anywhere else too.
“Does Aaron Judge want to stay with the #Yankees? ‘I’ve been clear about that since I first wore the pinstripes. But we couldn’t get something done before spring training. Now I’m a free agent. We’ll see what happens,'” Yankees insider Bryan Hoch tweeted after the American League Championship Series ended with a Houston Astros sweep.
Does Aaron Judge want to stay with the #Yankees?
"I've been clear about that since I first wore the pinstripes. But we couldn't get something done before spring training. Now I'm a free agent. We'll see what happens."
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) October 24, 2022
He Would Love To Return, But…
He has been clear in the past, as he says: he would like to return to the Bronx and he loves the Yankees.
However, he also clarified that the team had a chance to lock him up in a small spring training window, but didn’t.
Since he didn’t want to negotiate during the regular season, he is now officially free to sign with any team (when the World Series is over).
The “now, I’m a free agent” reminder should definitely worry Yankees fans, but in the end, the most likely scenario has him re-signing a huge deal, probably in excess of $300 million.
That would be a big raise from the $213.5 million he was offered back in spring training.
We will see what happens in the upcoming weeks.
NEXT: Yankees Fans Left With An Unfortunate Aaron Judge Question