The real, true winner in all of this is Aaron Judge — and he certainly deserves it. The American League home run king makes out of this winding rollercoaster of a year like a bandit.
Not only did he deal with single-handedly carrying a Yankees team that would have been nothing without him, but he also did so with the constant contract questions looming over his head.
After general manager Brian Cashman let slip against Judge’s wishes that the slugger turned down a $213.5 million offer in spring training in an attempt to turn the fan base and media against him and ramp up the pressure, the 30-year-old pushed all his chips into the middle of the table to bet on himself.
A .311 batting average, an AL record 62 home runs, 131 RBI, a 1.111 OPS, and an American League MVP later, and out comes Judge nearly $150 million richer than he would have been had he simply bent at the Yankees’ will back in March.
That kind of bet takes some intestinal fortitude but look at the payout.
Judge is a Yankee for life now, agreeing to a nine-year, $360 million contract to stay in the Bronx while declining other, potentially larger deals, from his hometown San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres — just to provide Cashman with a reminder of just how valuable his services are.
In the process he made the Yankees sweat it out, keeping them and the baseball world in the dark until Wednesday morning when the news finally broke of a deal being struck.
Normally, a franchise like the Yankees doesn’t have to deal with such drama in December. But the league is catching up to them. Long gone are the days of them being the biggest spenders on the market. Long gone is every big-name free agent a shoo-in to wind up in Pinstripes.
Judge, despite ultimately staying, fired a few more warning shots just to drive that point home.
A win for the hopeless desperately holding on to the notion that loyalty is still prevalent in professional sports.
With that, the only thing other than the dotting of the i’s and the crossing of the t’s is to make Judge the 16th captain in franchise history. He’s handled the responsibility of being the face of the most recognizable North American franchise in sports with the same sort of grace and professionalism associated with Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter. That includes thriving under the brightest lights and having a splendid rapport with the always-intense New York baseball media.
It’s the only logical thing left to do.
For more on Aaron Judge and the Yankees, visit AMNY.com
