Aaron Judge May Have Played Final Game with New York Yankees Sunday
Aaron Judge may have played his final game at Yankee Stadium as a member of the New York Yankees Sunday, as the Yankees' season ended at the hands of the Houston Astros, falling 6-5 in game four of the American League Championship Series, being swept out of the playoffs.
Judge will become an unrestricted free agent next month, free to sign with any team he chooses.
Judge was reportedly offered a seven-year, $213.5 million extension to remain with the Yankees earlier this season, but he turned it down and chose to bet on himself.
Judge responded by putting together perhaps the greatest contract year from an athlete in any sport, ever, as he broke Roger Maris' longstanding American League single-season home run record, setting a new record of 62 home runs. Judge also came close to winning Major League Baseball's second Triple Crown since 1967, leading the American League in batting average and RBI, but coming up five points short in batting average.
Judge, age 30, will be courted by several teams this offseason. Perhaps the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals will woo him. Perhaps the Seattle Mariners will make a play to bring Judge back to the west coast. Perhaps, the New York Mets will try to lure Judge away from the Yankees, keeping him in the Big Apple.
The Yankees, have no shortage of funds, so they should be able to match any offer Judge receives on the open market. The only questions will be if the Yankees choose to do so, and if Judge decides to remain a Yankee.
History could repeat itself. 15 years ago, the Yankees had an American League MVP who had the opportunity to test the open market, but remained with the team.
Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract, so that he could sign a ten-year, $275 million contract through his age 42 season and retire a Yankee.
Will the Yankees keep their [soon-to-be] MVP this time?
