Warriors legend makes his case for Aaron Judge to sign with the SF Giants
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The SF Giants had their first free-agent meetings with star New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge earlier this week. Judge, who has been tied to the Giants for months, ranks first on Giants Baseball Insider's top 50 free-agent rankings. You can read our full free-agent breakdown of Aaron Judge here.
Several Bay Area outlets have been making their pitch to the 31-year-old outfielder following news breaking of his meetings with the Giants. During the Golden State Warriors postgame show on Wednesday night, Warriors legend Chris Mullin (who was born and raised in New York) made his case for Judge to leave the Yankees and sign with the Giants.
Has Aaron Judge played his final game in a Yankees uniform? (2022)
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
"Listen it's time to come to the Bay Area Aaron Judge. All rise! Let's go," Mullin said. "Oracle Park is a beautiful place to play. You're going to win championships here. Just look at what Steph Curry's doing here. The Bay Area is a forgiving place. You put up a career year. You hit 62 home runs, and they're giving you the Bronx cheer in the playoffs. Time to go man. Come back home."
Judge had a monumental season in 2022 with the New York Yankees. He set the American League single-season home run record with 62 homers while leading the league in nearly every other major offensive category. In 157 games, he hit .311/.425/.686 and even stole 13 bases. Unsurprisingly, he netted 28 of 30 first-place votes to receive the AL MVP award.
Judge grew up in Linden, California, and was a Giants fan. Rich Aurilia was his favorite player. Now a free agent, Judge has an opportunity to sign with any team in professional baseball.
However, 2022 was far from the first time Judge was one of the best players in MLB. In 2017, his rookie campaign, he led the league in home runs, runs, and walks and finished second in AL MVP voting. Not counting a brief call-up in 2016, Judge has garnered MVP votes in four of his six seasons. The two years he didn’t were the two years he dealt with injuries, missing 60 games in 2019 and about half of the covid-shortened 2020 season. Even in those injury-shortened seasons, he still posted elite OPS of .921 and .891, respectively.
While the Yankees are considered the Giants biggest competition to sign Judge, the Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly prepping a pitch of their own. Needless to say, Giants fans will be disappointed if the team does not sign Judge this offseason, but it would be a devastating twist to see him sign with another team in the National League West.
The Giants, who are coming off a disappointing .500 season, clearly need to add at least one anchor to the lineup this offseason. With the permanent designated hitter a fixture of NL baseball, it should make it easier to commit to Judge long-term. Judge is currently an excellent defensive outfielder, particularly in right field, but even if his defense deteriorates into his late-30s, his bat should be able to remain productive as a DH.
Will the SF Giants be able to sign Aaron Judge this offseason? Only time will tell. If he does, will Chris Mullin's televised pitch be the reason why? Almost certainly not. But Mullin making the case shows that the Bay Area is pulling out all the stops to convince Judge that his future should be with the Orange and Black.
