SF Giants rumors: Aaron Judge removes "New York" from his Instagram bio

It's that time of year once again, should SF Giants fans be excited that Aaron Judge removed New York from his social media bio?

SF Giants free-agent target Aaron Judge has removed “New York” from his Instagram bio. Now, is it a big deal? If you ask the experts, absolutely not. But if you ask Giants fans, it means the power hitter is ready to leave the New York Yankees and return to Northern California.

Aaron Judge tries to beat a throw during the ALDS. (2022)

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Free agency is just getting underway, with the Winter Meetings right around the corner, beginning December 4th. A flurry of signings are expected to occur over that week, with growing expectation that Aaron Judge will finalize a deal.

Earlier in the week, reports came up that Judge had unfollowed the Yankees on all social media accounts. However, according to several fans of the team, he never followed the team on Twitter or Instagram in the first place. However, new information has shown that Judge did take New York out of his bio, and hope has sprung alive again for those in the Bay Area.

Image originally posted on Reddit by user TrikeMout.

Does it really mean anything? In the age of social media, players have often used their public profiles as an indicator of interest in a team. Other players have made their profiles as neutral as possible to generate interest from fans and reporters that can theoretically work as a bargaining tool and drive up their final contract.

Down the road in Santa Clara, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel did the same this summer, which brought speculation about his eventual departure to an all-time high. In his case, he ended up back with the 49ers, but the tactic doesn’t guarantee a return to the same team or even a bigger contract.

Aaron Judge, who’s come off a historically excellent season and crowned the achievement with the AL MVP award, will not have a problem getting a big contract this offseason. In fact, it’s been reported that the Yankees have already offered him a deal worth roughly $300M for around eight years. With negotiations apparently coming to a close in the next few days, every move Judge makes will be scrutinized, but until the paper is signed, there’s no telling where he’ll be playing in the spring. The SF Giants should probably just focus on making him the best offer they possibly can.