Aaron Judge on claiming his 62nd home run ball: "I haven't signed my free agent deal yet, so I think that's a little out of my price range right now"
In a conference call with the media after winning the MVP award, Aaron Judge discussed several things, including the American League record-breaking 62nd home run he hit when the New York Yankees played the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.
It's been reported that the ball will be auctioned off after the person who caught it declined a $3 million offer for the piece of memorabilia. Judge then joked that he could not afford to buy back his historic home run ball as he has yet to sign a new contract with a team.
"Oh, no. I haven't signed my free-agent deal yet, so I think that's a little out of my price range right now," he said.
Amidst all the tension and noise about his contract, Aaron Judge has stayed calm. The superstar slugger was recently named the American League MVP after a tightly-contested race with last year's winner, Shohei Ohtani.
Aaron Judge doesn’t plan to bid on his 62nd HR ball: “Oh, no. I haven't signed my free agent deal yet, so I think that's a little out of my price range right now.”
On October 4, Judge broke the American League single-season record for the most home runs with 62 at Globe Life Field in the second game of a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers.
A Dallas-based baseball fan named Cory Youmans caught the ball that Judge smashed and has since received several offers as high as $3 million. Youmans, however, declined all offers and the ball will be available for bidding starting on November 29.
Aaron Judge's ball heads to auction
With the help of Goldin Auctions, Aaron Judge's home run ball will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The price is likely to surpass that of Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball, which was hit during his historic 1998 season and sold for $3.05 million to Canadian comic book artist and author Todd McFarlane.
The reigning AL MVP sent his congratulations to Youmans:
"He caught the ball, he's the one that made the play out there in left field, so it's his right to do what he wants with it. Hopefully he's making the right decision for him and his family.''