Aaron Judge reveals that he was disaffected by the Yankees leaking his contract details in early negotiations
Aaron Judge is currently a free agent, one of the biggest in all of sports in the last few seasons.
The reason that is so is for two reasons: first, he had a historic season, breaking longstanding records and being the best player in baseball. Second, he and the New York Yankees were unable to come to an agreement in the offseason on an extension.
Had they been able to, none of this would be happening. They weren't, though, largely because the Yankees' offer was far too low, even before he went off the entire season.
Their seven-year, $213 million offer is a good one, but not for a player of Judge's caliber, who also happens to be the face of the team. He turned it down and the front office elected to leak that information to the press. Judge didn't appreciate that, per the New York Post:
“We kind of said, ‘Hey, let’s keep this between us. I was a little upset that the numbers came out. I understand it’s a negotiation tactic. Put pressure on me. Turn the fans against me, turn the media on me. That part of it I didn’t like.”
It's not a bad tactic by Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office. Since he turned it down, it can look like the Yankees didn't treat him fairly. While the fairness of the contract can be argued, it's hard to be upset about a team offering $213 million.
As a result, Judge looks like the bad guy. That's why it was important for him to outplay that offer, and he did more than that.
What is the Yankees' current offer to Aaron Judge?
Following the historic campaign, $213 million over seven years wasn't even close to what will get a deal done.
As a result, the team has reportedly added nearly $90 million and an extra year to the deal. The reports suggest that he's been offered something in the ballpark of eight years and $300 million.
He has reportedly asked for nine years, but no offer has been leaked along those lines as of now.